To Seek The Next Handhold (A Season Seven)
by Finlaure13
Summary: Annie and Auggie have returned to hearth and home after their life-changing vacation and subsequent rescue. Now they have to learn how to work together and live together, and make their next step forward together as real-life circles around them. A sequel to Trade-Up and Wherever The Wind Takes Us.
1. Chapter 1

**To Seek the Next Handhold (A Season Seven)**

**Well, I've signed a virtual pretend contract with a photo of a pen on Twitter to keep writing Walkerson CA fic for the rest of everyone's lives, so here is my next foray into the story. Please excuse any future mistakes on Spy activity, US procedures, politics, and Real Life. I don't know about that stuff. And Also, I don't own Covert Affairs. Though I should by now, because I've written more episodes then they have, and I'm not cancelling myself.**

Chapter One

Auggie sat at their usual table, drinking a beer, waiting for Annie to arrive. It was her first day back at Langley, and Auggie was nervous for her. He hadn't seen her since the morning, when they had gone into the DPD together and Annie was whisked into Calder's office. He hadn't even talked to Joan, so he didn't know what was planned for Annie, but he had told her he would meet her at Allen's after work.

Auggie himself had been back at work now for a week. At first, it had felt strange, being back at his desk, especially after the last few times he'd been there, and thinking it may be the last time. He'd come so close to leaving, but he knew now that had been a mistake. This was his job. This had been what he had been all about since he was barely an adult. Deep in his heart, he loved his job. He wanted to help his country; he wanted to change the world. He wanted to make things right. And on a smaller, personal note, he knew his job. He knew his company, he knew the people he worked with, and he knew his way around the whole building. He was completely and entirely on even-playing ground here. Maybe he even had a one-up on most people entering Langley. It was when he left its halls and went back into the outside world that he was reminded his limitations.

He'd had a hard time coming back to Langley after Tikrit. He now knew it was even harder to leave. He'd made an impression as an operative; he'd made an impression as a tech operative. He had the respect of his co-workers and others in the building. He'd built himself a pretty good reputation based on his accomplishments in and out of the field. He cherished the excitement, he loved the puzzles, he needed the adrenaline.

He'd gone directly to Joan, to inform her that he and Annie were now engaged. She wasn't surprised. In fact, if Auggie had to guess, she'd already come to the conclusion that this had happened. She'd been very welcoming to him, invited him into the inner sanctum of her office and sitting with him. She asked him about their travels, she was very interested in the whole adventure before the plane crash that had ended it. She'd put her hand on his arm when he spoke of the crash, and remained quiet as he told her everything.

"We were scared," she admitted to him. "I really... I was scared, Auggie."

He smiled at her, patting the hand on his arm, closing his own over it.

"Eric did not go home. Once he alerted me about the situation, and may I say, Auggie, that was some great planning on your part, keeping him in the know, then he was on that computer searching high and low for some sign. And when you managed to get that signal through..."

"Yeah, that took some doin'," said Auggie. "I had to bounce a signal around some satellites and I had no way of knowing if anything I was doing was working. The laptop was malfunctioning and the Braille display wasn't doing anything at all."

"I don't know how you do half of what you do, Auggie," she said. "And I mean that in the best possible way. You have a way with computers the same as you have a way with people."

Auggie gave a slight twitch of his shoulders, shrugging off her compliment. It wasn't denial; Auggie knew these things about himself. He'd worked hard to make it so. But to have it announced back with the belief in him that Joan let show in her voice, it felt undeserved.

"I wasn't going to let those kids down," he said, simply.

"Annie told me about those kids, too," Joan said. She wasn't pushing for his thoughts, but she left it out there.

"About Annie-"

"Auggie, I need you to run a new operative. Actually, one that has come in from the wind."

Auggie was quiet. He knew when to shut up with Joan. He reversed his thoughts and followed hers. He waited expectantly.

"Auggie..."

"You got that job, didn't you?" He didn't know why it hadn't hit him before.

"I offered Annie a position. It is a separate task force but still running out of the DPD. This thing, Auggie, means that your role within the department is more important than ever. I need help. I need you to assume many of the responsibilities I have as head of the DPD."

Auggie narrowed his brows. "What does this mean?"

"It means that I will be here, but people are going to be checking in with you. You are, for a better term, my Number Two. I am going to be out office."

"I don't have to move again, do I?" Auggie asked.

"No," Joan said, and he heard the smile in her word.

"Good. I don't need the distraction. So, you've got me handling the people within the department-"

"With a raise and an increase in your security level."

"Better parking space?" Auggie asked. She didn't say anything in response, so Auggie continued. "Is this a genuine promotion? Or am I just covering someone's ass upstairs?"

"Auggie, I talked them through a lot while you were away. I told them they'd need to cajole you back, that you had given notice. You deserve this."

"But I hadn't."

"They only know you did."

"So, what, I throw out the missions and bring in the Intel and organise it all into reports at my desk?"

"I never said it would be exciting every day," Joan was serious. She added in a lower voice, "You're still covert, Auggie. I know that's important to you."

"So who is this newly returned officer from the wind?" Auggie asked.

"James Decker."

"Decker?" Auggie was incredulous.

"It seems your words of persuasion have changed his mind. He said you talked a lot on the plane. He also had some choice words for you."

Auggie smiled. "I'll just bet. Wow. Decker." He was having a hard time puzzling his brain back around that one.

Joan interrupted him from having to further think about it for the moment. "Surely you knew you were in the running for a promotion."

"I never know anymore. I get shifted up and down the stairs like I work for a moving company."

"This is genuine. This is from me. As a thank you. Auggie, I wouldn't be here without you. We'll get to work together in conference. It will be good, Auggie, I enjoy working with you. It's a bridge."

"You don't need to convince me," he said. "Do I get to know what this new division is that you've invited my _fiancé_ to come into?"

"Eyes only," Joan said, and Auggie leaned back in the seat, slightly put out, until he felt the file folder slide under his hand. He took it, and opened it, feeling the Braille under his fingers.

"Eyes only?" he grinned.

"I wanted to tell you first," Joan said, tapping his knee and standing up.

"Maybe if you had've said _no eyes can read this_ then we'd have been clear."

"You give us an extra level of protection," Joan said and Auggie grinned at her. "Auggie," she said. "Welcome aboard."

"I've said yes, then?"

"Haven't you?"

Auggie closed his eyes a minute. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? To climb the ladder to... to what? To the top? To the position Arthur had thrown to him before? To DCI? He opened his eyes and held out his hand to Joan, feeling her hand slip into his and shake it firmly.

"Welcome aboard," she said again.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"I'm looking for a sweet time," said Annie's sexiest voice in his ear as her hand slid down his chest from where she stood behind him. He grinned, taking a sip of his beer.

"Are you a leggy redhead?" Auggie asked.

"I'm whatever you want me to be, Baby," she said, sliding her hand down his arm and trailing her fingers along his hand before she slipped into the seat adjacent.

"Cheque, please," Auggie said, raising his fingers in the air.

"At least buy me a beer, Handsome," Annie laughed.

"Deal." He raised his hand again. "Is anyone looking?" he asked.

There was always a staff member close by, and they were swiftly waited on and served.

"So," Auggie said as Annie took a drink of beer. "I guess Joan had you quite busy today," he said.

"Polygraphs, fingerprints... I had to go through everything again."

"Par for the course," said Auggie.

"Am I ready for this again?"

Auggie heard the uncertainty in her voice. He put his mug down. "You are good at what you do. And this time, you know what happens when you choose to go on your own. You have consequences to go by. Is it worth it? This time, if the choice comes, you can ask yourself that. And this time, I hope you are certain about what it is you have that you can lose."

He put his hands across the table and found hers, one hand fingering the ring on the other. He smiled.

"I really missed coming here," she said, looking around. "I remember coming here with you that first time... It seems a lifetime ago now," she mused.

"It was," Auggie said. "And just yesterday at the same time. Now, the question is, does it still help to repair some of the damage the day does to you?" He took a swig from his mug as if to prove a point.

"Just as much as it did that first day," Annie said. "Just as much as it did every day after that."

"Well, from what I hear, you're gonna need it."

"What do you know?" she asked.

"Clearance," Auggie teased. "All need to know."

It felt right. Auggie felt a shift; he had felt it, since they had come back from their world travel. They had fallen back into some sort of reprise of their first ease, back to the lightness they gave each other to balance out the bad stuff. He had thought it had been tainted from all the lies and secrets, but he'd been wrong. Once the rot had been stripped away, the whole thing was fresh and safe again.

Some things were meant to happen.

_F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13_

Auggie slid the door behind them, locking it, hearing Annie turn the lights on. He folded his cane and took off his jacket and shoes, putting them in the closet alcove. He heard Annie falling on to the sofa and sighing as she pulled off her shoes.

He moved over to her, and she made room for him, pulling him down beside her. He put his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"No mission," Annie said softly.

"Not until you're cleared, Annie, you know that."

"Well, my appointment is next week, so I'll be able to."

"Yes, you will," Auggie said, with confidence. "And then it's back to me waiting for you to come back."

"Don't, Auggie, I'm never not coming back again."

He smiled at her. "Didn't say that. I said I'd be waiting. I'll always wait."

"Hope you don't wait too long," Annie said, peering up at him, grinning. She reached over and took his hand and placed it on her thigh.

"Hah," said Auggie, sliding his hand up to the back of her neck and kissing her, moving his other hand up her thigh. "Thought you'd never ask."

_F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13_

The week played out its high points and its low points. Auggie had sat down with James to hash out some kind of partnership. It was not easy. Decker was still having a hard time being on this side of the line. He'd been angry throughout his re-initiation. Auggie had seen personally to much of the paperwork and statements, just to ease James into it. He knew his friend had issues. _Hell_, they all had come out of that mission in a bad state of mind. It was what had sent Tony to drinking, Nate to his vigilante justice, and Charlie to throw himself into his work so hard his nerves couldn't stand it. It was what had pushed Auggie into the relentless drive to make something right, ignoring everything else but that inertia that had finally taken him down hard. And now, they were the only two left to know why.

He'd talked long and hard with James when McQuaid had sent him back from Buenos Aires. He'd found out about James reaching out to the kids in the area, organising a soccer team, coaching them in the sport and in their young lives. He'd heard the hope and the despair in his friend's voice as he talked about the kids he coached.

"You can keep making a difference," Auggie had said. "It doesn't have to kill us, Decker."

"It looks like it's nearly killed you, and more than once, by what I can tell." He'd sat back, looking at his friend. "Why didn't you tell me, Auggie?"

"Ah, it wasn't important."

"Jeezus, Auggie. Not important? I don't even know how—" He sighed. "We lost touch."

"My fault as much as yours."

"I'd say there's more than just Belenko we need to catch up on," James had said.

Auggie had nodded. "Yeah, I know a good bar..."

Decker had listened to him, in the end. He hadn't wanted to, and Auggie had calmly let him tell his story. But in the end, he came back to Langley with Auggie. He didn't have anything else. He'd already lost his standing by having been thrown in jail back in Argentina. He complained that it was like being coerced back into the Corleone Family by Tom Hagen himself. He tried to talk himself out of it and then back into it, but in the end, Auggie won. James would be safe, at least while Belenko still was out there. If nothing else, he had the protection of the agency now.

The upside, thought Auggie, as he took off the gloves he wore to pummel the heavy bag at the gym, was that he now had a sparring partner in his workouts. Annie was soon to be allowed to give her all again, but until then, Auggie got back in shape after his long holiday by letting his friend body slam him into the mat.

He groaned as he laid there on his back, sticking his hand up and letting James pull him back to his feet again.

"You losin' it?" Decker asked. "What happened, man?"

"I ate lots of good food and relaxed on beaches and in snow lodges for a few months. I'll be fine, I just need to get back into it." He went to the bench and got his towel, and then he dried his hands and neck. He turned. "Peg board?"

"Yeah. Fastest time, two out of three."

Auggie grinned, and started toward the wall. James moved along beside him and bumped against him as Auggie slowed, and Auggie reached up and put his hand on Decker's shoulder, moving along slightly behind him. Sometimes an elbow seemed too intimate, and there was something boiling inside James that Auggie didn't want to intrude upon. Decker seemed genuinely upset about Auggie's situation, and Auggie had tried hard to play it down, to shrug it off, but James was shaken.

Auggie moved to the bucket of pegs by the wall. He grabbed two handfuls.

"I need them already in there. Three spaces apart. You'll have to put them in your pocket and retrieve them as you go. Just leave them in when you come back down."

"You make this extra hard for me," James muttered with a laugh.

"Just levelling the playing field a bit." Auggie grinned, but Decker said nothing that Auggie could hear, and in a way, he was glad he couldn't see his friend's face at the moment.

James went first, climbing the wall, taking each peg out and jabbing it into the next hole as he pulled himself up. Auggie cheered him from the side, clapping his hands and shouting insults and compliments.

He heard Decker's trainers hit the floor as Decker jumped down from where he had lowered himself. "Okay, Brother, you're set up," he said, patting Auggie on the back.

Auggie slid his hand along the wall until he touched the wooden frame. He reached up and touched a hand hold and then set his jaw and tensed his arms and begin to pull himself up the wall, peg by peg. It was hard, pulling himself up and finding the next peg at the same time, his concentration stayed fully focused on his muscles, his direction. His fingers brushed the next peg and he grabbed hold, his arm taut, his opposite hand already prepared to seek the next handhold.

Decker shouted when Auggie had reached the last peg, and Auggie relaxed, letting himself swing back down. As he lowered himself, he called out to Decker, asking for coordinates on the floor rising to meet him.

"You're there, man, about three feet."

Auggie imagined the three feet and let himself drop to the floor. "Shit," he said. "I am out of shape."

"Well, not everyone can do prison workouts to keep their physique," joked Decker.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Auggie said, following the wall back to the bench with his water and towel.

"I really don't think you can surprise me any more, Auggie," James said to his back. Auggie took a drink and turned back to him, but Decker had already started up the wall once more.

"Hey, we didn't time you!" he called to James.

"It's all right," James grunted. "We all know I'm faster."

"Oh, har," said Auggie, moving back over for his next go at it. After a week of being back in the gym, Auggie was feeling pretty good. It was something that was important to him, even more so when he could no longer see. He wasn't Active Special Forces, but he still represented their determination and readiness.

He took his turn again and was nearing the top when he heard Decker call from below. "You have an admirer, Auggie."

Auggie continued his climb, hoping Decker meant Annie. His hand swept up but he felt the end of the wooden framework and the smooth wall above it, so he began lowering himself back down again.

"Floor?" he called out.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Auggie, you're about four feet off."

Auggie dropped down one more peg and then jumped out to land on both feet. He turned around as he heard a pair of stilettos approaching him and he smiled, waiting for her, his hand subconsciously out to her. She took it, guiding him in for a kiss.

"Looking good, Soldier," she said, her hands sliding up under the back of his black tank top. She turned to the other man. "James?"

"Hey, Annie. How are ya?" Decker hadn't had much time to get to know Annie, and Auggie wanted to fix that sometime soon.

"You almost ready?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, James seems to think he can't be bested by me," Auggie said with a grin.

"You have a lot to learn," Annie said to Decker, a huge smile on her face as she led Auggie back to his gym bag.


	2. Chapter 2

**I am fluffed and chustered that you guys like that I am continuing. This makes my little Walkerson heart sing like a Song Sparrow. Know what else makes my Walkerson heart sing like a Song Sparrow? Walkerson. I'm so glad they got back together. ;-) **

**As usual, I own nothing, I make nothing, I earn nothing. Pretty much my life, really.**

**ENJOY!**

Chapter Two

"I'm back, Boss," said James Decker as Auggie was getting ready to shut down his computer. "I mean, I know you know, but I just thought I'd come check in personally."

Auggie pushed in his chair and put his laser cane in the desk, retrieving his white cane.

"Hey, Decker. I'm glad you did. Walk me out," he said, pulling on his jacket and slipping the messenger bag over his head. He unfolded his cane, and Decker let him step by him as he headed from the office.

James moved up beside him. Auggie nodded in the man's direction. "You made a good judgment call out there."

"Well, it's not like it was the most dangerous day in the CIA," James retorted.

"And it's not like you've proven yourself, Brother, you know that. They're keeping you close because they don't know you like I do. And they're keeping an eye on you, that's all. You'll be out of the dog house in no time. Besides, I think they're still trying to clean up the aftermath of your break out. Although, technically, I had nothing to do with that, it was all McQuaid."

"Yeah, you can cut the bullshit, I know it was you."

"Yeah, it was me." Auggie shot him a little grin.

They walked in silence for a while, until they got to the elevator. James pushed the button and Auggie let him step back beside him. "I didn't ask to be your handler," Auggie said. "Joan wanted to team us up."

"She just didn't want to scare me off," Decker said. "She figured I needed someone's hand to hold."

"We all just want to make this as easy as possible, Man. They want you back. Your mission in Venezuela, all that shit that went down in Chechnya, you know they want you back."

"Yeah, maybe just to keep me quiet."

Auggie heard the elevator chime and the doors open. He listened for people coming off and when it was clear he moved swiftly ahead of Decker, finding the door with his cane and stepping in, holding it for Decker. He found the ground floor button and stepped back.

"It's going to work out, Brother," Auggie said, kindly. His friend was rough around the edges, unsure if what he was doing was right. Auggie knew that he might decide it wasn't what he could handle, and he wouldn't blame him. But James Decker seemed a whole lot of lost to Auggie right now, and something that had been familiar and good for him years ago might bring him back in.

"Is it?" James asked. "I mean, Auggie, I hate to tell you this, but you're blind because of this place."

The door opened and Auggie swung his cane, stepping out into the hallway. He heard Decker walking beside him. He had gone out the night before with James, after Joan had broken the news that Auggie would be, for the time being, James's handler. He felt he needed to break some ice or something. They had had a few beers together at Allen's, and Auggie had briefed his fellow soldier on what had gone down in Tikrit on his last mission. He knew it was bothering his friend, and Decker was as reluctant to speak of it as Auggie was. Auggie told him the facts, straight up, and then when he'd finished, he'd leaned forward, smacking Decker's hand as he located it.

"It's all good, Brother," he'd said, and ordered them another pitcher of beer.

"Yeah, and I'm indebted to them taking me back, the same way you should be. It's not perfect, Decker, but I know it's in you. You couldn't give it up so easily. Why else did you end up in a prison over there? Listen, I only told you out-loud the things you were already thinking in your head on that plane ride back here."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know what had happened to you at that point, Auggie, Man. I didn't know about this."

It hadn't been expected, he knew that. When Decker had come in to Langley with Ryan McQuaid and Annie, Auggie had gone down to meet him in the interrogation room. He was still in rough shape from the beatings and torture Belenko had administered, and when he walked in, he'd heard James's confusion.

"What is this?" James had said, seeing Auggie's cane first. And then, "Oh, shit, _Auggie_!" Auggie hadn't even let it sink in, he immediately and unprofessionally held his arms out to his brother-in-arms, saying the man's name out loud.

There had been a pause, and Auggie had been afraid that his old friend was still angry, was upset with _him_ for bringing him in. But then he realised it was shock that held Decker back for that moment. Just as he started to drop his hands, James stood and embraced him, clutching him hard.

"I guess we're even now on the life-saving thing," he'd said to Auggie.

"Yeah, I guess so," Auggie had replied.

But Decker either hadn't been convinced when Auggie said he was okay, or he hadn't heard. They presently walked down the hallway to the main door, checking out through security.

"Is that what's bothering you? Decker? More than anything else? This?" He raised the cane up.

"I dunno. I guess. I just... wasn't expecting it."

"Neither was I," Auggie quipped.

"After all that, Auggie, and you're still here."

"Like I told you before, Brother, I'm a Company Man."

"They got some strange hold on you, Man," retorted James.

"Yeah. Well, some things just are how they are. Listen, you should come by and get to know Annie. Get to know her outside these walls you dislike so much."

"Yeah?"

"Ye—of course, Decker! We're friends, right? On and off the field. Brothers. I want you around, Man. In case you forgot, we're all we have now."

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten it since you told me, Auggie."

He heard his driver address him quietly. "I'll call you, Decker. Okay? We'll sort this all out."

"Yeah, shit, Auggie, I'm sorry, Man," Decker mumbled.

Auggie felt for his shoulder and pulled the man in for a one-armed hug before reaching out for his driver to lend him an elbow.

He sat thinking about James's reaction all the way home. He was shaken out of this solitude by the driver, who announced he'd pulled up on the curb in front of Auggie's building. Auggie gathered his thoughts as well as his belongings and climbed out, thanking the man and bidding him a good evening.

The apartment was quiet. Annie had not returned yet, and Auggie felt both glad for the time to be alone, and a wish to have her here to welcome him home. He was hungry and yet, he had no desire to eat. He sat down on the sofa, thinking about James Decker.

Annie returned almost hours later, and Auggie was still sitting where he'd plunked himself, except he had distracted himself by reading a book. He didn't get a lot of time to read anymore, and the books in Braille were just too cumbersome to stow in his bag, but he still enjoyed reading a real book. It was something that was described in voiceless details for everyone alike so they could all make pictures in their heads, whether they could see or not.

"Hey," Annie said, softly, turning on the lights.

"Hey," Auggie replied.

"Did you eat?"

"No."

Annie came over and sat down next to him, pressing into his side. He put the bookmark back in place and set the book down, putting his arm around her.

"How'd you make out?" he asked her.

"It's pretty deep, isn't it? I mean, there's more to it than just a border."

"Yeah. But Joan needs your language skills and she wants to get in there. She also doesn't want to put you in harm's way, though, Annie. You going to Russia is not in our best interests."

"I understand that, Auggie, but you know she may send me outside the borders."

"We're hoping not to, Annie. But you never know."

"So? I didn't see you since noon, how did yours go down?" She sounded gently probing. He realised she knew something was up when she turned the lights on, which meant it was dark. Auggie had recently begun to remember to turn the lights on for her when she was due home and he had completely forgotten to check the time and turn on a light for her.

"Good. Fine. Yeah, we got the drop, and it all went by the book. Decker is fast and efficient and still the same guy in the field, I think."

"Yeah, that's good."

"It's off the field he seems to be lost."

"What do you mean, _lost_?" Annie turned her body in slightly to see his face.

"I don't know. I can't really get a thread on what it is, but I think a lot of it has to do with what happened to me. It's shaken him, and I can't seem to connect with him like... I dunno, I guess it was a shock for him. And he already has enough bad feelings about the CIA, and this isn't helping win the case." Auggie pointed at his own eyes, and then leaned his head back.

"It's just gonna take some time," Annie said.

"I'm his handler. I haven't got a lot of time."

"Auggie." Annie took his hand. "Be patient with him. The man's been through enough himself."

"Yeah, well, it's been months since he found out."

"And you weren't here. For him to deal with it. For him to come around. He was just getting his feet back under him, setting himself here. Now he has to face it."

"He doesn't get why I am still there. He doesn't get why he's gone back, and seeing me there shakes him even more. He doesn't want to end up like this."

Annie was quiet. "I don't think it's him he's thinking about, or the CIA. In the bigger picture. It's _you_, Auggie. You're different. And he doesn't know how to deal with it."

Auggie shook his head, but not taking his hand from Annie's. "I can't keep doing this for them," he sighed. "It's the hardest part of seeing old friends. I have to keep showing them I'm okay. They feel sorry for me no matter what I do."

"You just have to let him know you again, Auggie. Let him see that you have a place where you work, it's not about past events, it's about you being valued and appreciated for what you do there. You know your job better than anyone, right? You are confident and you have stability because of your job. He'll understand, Auggie, I don't doubt that. Anyone who knows you for more than a day sees that. And plus, Auggie, you're the most loyal person I've ever met. I mean, hell, you stayed loyal to me for all those..." He heard her take a breath. "He'll see, Auggie. Be patient with the man."

"I didn't have to be patient with _you_," he said, turning slightly toward her.

She didn't say anything but she put her free hand on his cheek, looking at him. "Come on," she finally said. "Let's make something to eat."

She stood, still holding onto his hand, pulling him up behind her. They walked hand in hand to the kitchen, and Annie handed him a box of pasta from the cupboard. He automatically started filling a pot with water, trying to curb the thoughts that kept popping into his head. The ordinariness of the chore gave him some distance, and he was silently grateful to Annie. He measured out the pasta and Annie got out the oil, the salt, and some mushrooms, and they worked on the meal together. Annie lightened his mood with a breakdown of her most embarrassing moment of the day, and Auggie felt the tension between his shoulders that was threatening to move behind his eyes dissolving with each laugh. He moved behind her and slipped his hand around her middle, kissing her under the ear, and moved on to the fridge, a smile on his face. No doubt about it, Auggie thought to himself, she made every part of his life better.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The following day, Auggie and Eric were trying to search out a face at a conference that was happening in Cuba, during the historical meeting of the presidents. There was a general move forward, as far as the relationship between the two countries was concerned, but there had been questionable intel about a Russian plan to infiltrate and interrupt the negotiations. Decker was brought in for the play. Auggie once again felt the hesitance from his old friend, sadness, definitely, and no doubt a good handful of pity. Auggie wanted James to see how he worked, how connected he was to his job, how easily he manoeuvred, and how quickly he could do it all. James was professional, he was friendly, he was agreeable, but he was not sure yet, and it was painfully obvious to Auggie.

They had agreed that Decker would go in, if need be. James seemed calm and capable. He still had a good head on his shoulders. The only thing he seemed unsure about was Auggie, and what the Agency had done to him. Auggie felt the anger under the surface and he knew that James needed to burn this off, or he wouldn't be good at his job. He wanted to shake him, or arm wrestle him, or something, but even their work-outs at the gym hadn't broken the tension that Auggie felt. He was waiting for James to laugh at one of his quips, and it never happened. James hadn't laughed since he'd come back. Auggie wondered if the kids Decker had coached had made him laugh.

Decker had been dismissed, while Barber, Holman, and Auggie worked on frame by frame shots from the Hummingbird network. Auggie's level of comfort and confidence went back to normal as he worked with his _hacker army_. They were fine with him as he was. Of course, he'd met both of them after returning from Iraq. He didn't have to make up for anything. He wished James Decker would see it like that.

What Auggie was not aware of, was that James Decker was on his way to Annie's office she shared with three others. Which was for the best, as Decker had taken it into his head that he needed to talk to someone, and it had to be Annie because she knew Auggie best.

Annie was at her desk as he approached the door. He pushed it open and entered, nervously looking around. Annie looked up, puzzled, and then stood and followed him back out into the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, taking him to the chairs further down the hallway.

He looked at the wall and then back at Annie. "How do you wrap your head around it?" he asked.

"Around what? Auggie?"

"Yeah. Like, he was this amazing soldier; he was all action and handling situations on the ground. And he's not that guy anymore. He can't be that guy anymore."

Annie smiled at Auggie's old friend. "I didn't know him as a sighted man," she told him.

He shook his head at her. "You didn't? You never knew him before?"

"No," Annie said, grinning at him. "Why does that surprise you? He was as perfect the day I met him as he is now." She blushed and Decker chuckled.

"I don't know why it bothers me so much, Annie," he said, his head dropping lower.

"Because you love him, James. He's your brother. He's really the same guy with the same values and the same humour and the same drive as he always had. Maybe even more so. But now, he has patience and empathy and a strength that give him real character. I've never known anyone like Auggie, James, and not because he can't see. It's all the other stuff that most people don't learn in a lifetime."

Decker was quiet. Annie leaned further down, her hand on his back. "He doesn't want you to tiptoe around him. Just be his friend, James, like you always were. Ask him questions. He doesn't mind that. Tease him a bit. Let him know you're comfortable with him, with who he is, because that man in that office? He is as valuable now as he ever was. He is not less productive than he was. He has respect here.

"You wonder why he came back here after the bomb blast, after Belenko? He knows his job. He has this whole place down, both physically, and psychologically. He needs the adrenaline, the same way you do. You and he have the same drive. It's what made your team strong. If he is going to be your handler, James, you will make a good team, but you need to let it go. You need to stop thinking of Auggie as _used to be_ and start just thinking about him as Auggie. He's okay, James. He really is. He's adapted and moved forward. He'll ask for help if he needs it. The more at ease he is with you, the more likely it is he'll just out and ask you, and it won't be a big deal. That's all I'm saying, James, is that in so many situations, it's not a big deal. And when it is, you deal with it then."

"I just… can't help but feel sorry for him. What was."

"I know. It's hard, when you think of what he's lost. But think of what we've gained by having him still here. He didn't die in that blast, James. For that, we should love him more now, and care less about the past."

Decker nodded, running his hands through his hair. He looked at Annie, and he saw the beauty in her eyes as she talked about Auggie.

"He will amaze you, James. In more ways than you think. And he will also be stunningly everyday, probably like the Auggie you knew before. You just have to put the two notions of him together in your mind. Give it some time, but don't let it put a wall between you. You won't even notice half the time, I'm betting, once you get used to the idea."

Decker looked sideways at her, and she still had that same expression. No two ways about it, this woman loved Auggie, and she loved him as he was. Auggie was not to be pitied, she'd said. And seeing the love in Annie's eyes for Auggie, knowing that Auggie felt good about his job, respected, in control, and still had the excitement he needed, the puzzles he loved to sort out in that smart brain of his, Decker felt some of the tension in his chest let go, just a tiny bit.

"Do you still trust his judgement?" Annie asked. "Because if you're going to have him in your ear, you need to be sure."

"Did you? I mean, right at the start?"

"I was scared. I was new. He was always sure of himself to me. I just went with his gut until I figured out how to read my own. He never let me down, James."

Decker's eyes teared up, and he wiped at his eye, wishing Annie didn't see it. "Me, either," he whispered. "None of us."

"Then don't let him down," Annie whispered at him, looking at him with a pleading expression. "He needs you, James. He needs you just as you were, as brothers."

Decker nodded, a smile on his face this time. He felt much better about his feelings, and while he still had them, he knew they would subside and he would see Auggie again as everyone else saw him: smart, capable, kind, giving, driven, and just around all that as a normal constant, blind. And it wouldn't be a big deal to him, either, once he settled down to the idea.

Annie stood, and James got to his feet beside her. "Thanks, Annie."

"You should come visit us," Annie said, and leaned up and kissed his cheek.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"No Chee-tos on the keyboard!" Auggie called as he stepped out of the office, leaving Barber and Holman running a scan of recognisable Russian agents against a photo capture from a camera in Havana.

"Hey, Auggie!"

"Decker? Hey!" Auggie turned, automatically holding his free hand up.

"Walk you out?" James asked, patting Auggie on the shoulder. Auggie stepped in and touched Decker's arm, following it to his elbow. He felt the muscles tense for a moment in Decker's arm, and then James relaxed.

"Don't mind if you do," he said, and they headed down the hallway to the elevator together.

"You may need to go to Havana," Auggie said.

"I can do it, Auggie. I want to prove myself."

"I guess we both need to, huh?"

The elevator arrived and they stepped in, Auggie letting Decker guide him this time.

"You don't have to prove anything to me, Auggie."

"I kinda do."

"You shouldn't have to."

"I know… but I love ya, Man, and I'll do the extra work to make it okay again. But you have to promise me you'll stop with the holding back at the gym, man. Are you scared to take down a blind guy?"

"I never -" Decker began and then chuckled, seeing Auggie's grin. "Okay."

"I mean it, though, Brother," said Auggie. "It's gonna be right between us. I'm still Auggie. I just run into a lot more things than I used to." He waited. "And you can laugh at that if you want to."

"Do you?"

"What else am I gonna do? Cry? Give up and go home?"

"I guess that's not you at all."

"Damn straight it's not me, and it's not you, either, Decker."

They stepped out of the elevator and crossed the floor to security.

"No, you're right, Auggie. You know me better than anyone, even still. I was kind of in limbo while I was away there. I didn't have to make any real decisions because I'd left all that here. I didn't expect anything here to change. I still expected you to be out running missions and being all heroic."

"I don't do as many field missions, but I am _always_ heroic," Auggie laughed.

Decker laughed, too, and Auggie realised it was the first time he'd really heard his friend laugh in years. As they went out to meet with Auggie's driver, who was approaching to lead Auggie around the heavy traffic parked in front, James turned and pulled Auggie into a hug this time.

"You got my back, Brother," he said. And then he stepped back as the driver touched Auggie's arm. Auggie paused, and then he grinned and nodded in Decker's direction, knowing his friend saw him, maybe now in more ways than one.


	3. Chapter 3

**And Meanwhile, things are moving forward for our beautiful couple. Forward, at least, in my dream head. But since I don't own Covert Affairs and can't make a profit off of it, it will only sit here on this page, waiting for it to become real in your dream heads, too. Enjoy, enjoy, don't leave me yet.**

Chapter Three

"Something smells really good," Auggie said as he moved from the door to the credenza, collapsing his cane and setting it in the tray, then removing his messenger bag and putting it beside it.

"I'm trying something," Annie said.

"You're getting pretty adventurous there, Walker," Auggie teased, grinning at her as he moved toward her with his arms out. His hands slid around her hips and she took his face in her hands and kissed him.

"Gotta learn new things," Annie said. "Besides, with Danielle so far away, I don't get those tasty meals now."

"Are you saying you don't like the stuff I order for you?" he joked with her. Then he closed his eyes and lifted his nose, smiling. "If it tastes like it smells, you may have gotten some of her cooking genes after all."

"One can only hope," Annie laughed, turning back to the kitchen.

Auggie grinned and moved towards the bedroom to change out of his work clothes. It had been a tense past few days, but this morning, everything in his tentative control had come back into play. James Decker had, in all honesty, made a memorable bit of intelligence retrieval in Cuba, and was now in a safe house awaiting the decision on his return. It was a relief to Auggie that Decker had been successful, without incident. It meant he'd been right, that Decker hadn't lost his touch, and that he'd be an asset to them.

"I can't believe we both have the weekend off," Annie said as Auggie returned back down the stairs in more comfortable clothing.

"Shhh," he said. "Don't say that too loudly. They'll hear us."

"Did you tell Joan we were looking at houses?"

"I sure did, Annie. You told me to tell Joan we were looking at houses, so I told Joan we were looking at houses."

She bopped him in the arm and he laughed. He sat at the island, a big sigh of contentment escaping his lungs. Annie bent down with her chin on her hands across the other side of the island from him.

"Was that a good sigh?" she asked.

He smiled. "Yeah."

She waited a minute. "Are you gonna tell me what that's all about?"

"Am I not supposed to be happy?" he teased her.

He heard her moved back to the counter, clinking cutlery, tossing something in the sink. He wasn't worried any more. At first, he had been worried that he would lose his routines and methods with someone else living there. He'd tried it with Natasha, and even Parker had come to stay with him for a while, and each time, he'd had to deal with his fridge contents being changed around, shoes in the floor, the remote control gone from its place in the tray, lost into oblivion. Tash had gotten defensive once when he rounded on her about moving the remote.

"It's gone," he tried to explain.

"No, it's just over here," Tash had sighed.

"First, I don't know where _there_ is, Tash. And second? If it's not here, in this spot, and I can't find it around this spot, it's gone. It's out of existence for me. Okay? I can't just look around and see the damn thing over _there_!"

"Fine, Auggie, I'll keep everything exactly as it is, I won't touch anything. Happy?"

He hadn't been. And she forgot she promised shortly after that she had said it, or at least, she hoped _he'd_ forgotten.

Annie. Annie, on the other hand, never forgot. She told him if she took something and used it all. She asked him questions if she was unsure. He knew she watched him, but instead of just watching him out of curiosity or pity, she watched and learned.

He knew that everything in the kitchen would be back in place before the evening was over. He knew that if he helped her clean up, she would give him jobs but that they would be explicit so he wouldn't tread in her mess, or create a bigger one. He trusted her, and he didn't try to overrule her because he wanted to prove he could do it. She was just right about it, and it was easier that way. Auggie knew that was something that worked between them without words. There were lots of things that had been hard, but this one had been so seamless. He still had no idea why or how, but he knew he'd never found it with anyone else, not in his family, not in his coworkers, not in his conquests or girlfriends.

He didn't realise he'd been lost in thought. He also didn't realise Annie had turned and saw he was lost in thought. When he finally noticed that she had stopped making noise, he snapped to, lifting his face to her.

"Are you worried about tomorrow?" she asked.

"What, Skyping with the girls? Not one bit, I love to talk with them. I hope Violet laughs so I can hear her," he said with a smile. He waited, then his expression became puzzled. "You mean the house-hunting?"

"Yeah."

Auggie took a deep breath. "A little," he said. He had a moment's thought of hoping she wouldn't try to make it no big deal, or make it okay. She was quiet, which made him smile to himself. He put his hand across the island and felt hers slide into it. "I think it's a good nervous. I'm glad we're doing this, Annie, I really am. It's exactly what I want. It's just... it's harder... for me... now... I'm so used to this place. I have every seam and every piece memorised and visualised here. It's going to take me a long time to get that comfortable in a new place... and, well, it's going to be weird for you to see me there."

"Auggie," Annie said, a smile in her voice as she moved around the island to put her arms around his waist. He put his arms over hers and dropped his gaze to her face.

"I want to make it easier for you, okay? Just like we did in all those places we stayed in on our tour. And you can have all the time in the world to get oriented to it, Auggie. I'm not going to be weirded out by you. Why would you even think that?" She genuinely was surprised.

"Sorry," Auggie said with a little smirk. "Mesmerised." He winked at her, feeling an odd sense of accomplishment with her old description somehow.

"You better believe it, Buster. I know it's a whole new world to you in a new house, but we can explore it together." She looked around. "I'm going to miss this place, too. I have a lot of attachment to it."

Auggie nodded. "I know. But... it's time to let it go. There are too many bad memories here, too. Too many others, and... that night those guys were here, Annie. I've never felt as safe here since, and I don't know why. We have all the locks fixed and everything's back to normal, but... it's just a lot of bad memories. I want all new memories, good ones, with you."

"We'll set the new place up, wherever it is, to be whatever we both need. Right? It'll be ours. We can incorporate whatever furniture you want to take. Whatever you need. I have nothing of my own any more that I really want. I just want you."

Auggie laughed. "I am all about that," he said. "But this is a joint mission, I want your input. It's ours. Okay?"

Her words smiled into his ears. "Okay, Mr. Anderson. Fifty-fifty."

"Except on the colour. You could paint it like Sardinia, I wouldn't care. You're really lucky that way."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Annie mused. "I have such good memories of that place. Those colours will always take me back there."

"Yeah," Auggie grinned. "Me, too."

"You didn't even see them," she groaned.

"Yes, I did," he said with a smug smile.

She hugged to him a little. "I'm glad," she said softly. "But don't worry. I won't make our home anything but us. We have those memories forever with us."

"Ohh, phew," Auggie said. "I was so scared you were going to go all summer turquoise and sunflower yellow and seastorm green -"

"Sea_foam_ green."

"Seafoam green and whatever-the-gad else they name those colours."

He could feel her shoulders swaying as she shook her head. "I will restrain myself," she said. She let go of him and tapped his shoulder. "Come on, it's ready. Set the plates out, will ya?"

Auggie grinned. "Do I have to do everything around here?" he teased her.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The morning had been awesome. They'd first spoken to Violet's family. To Auggie's intense delight, the little girl was animated, and made all sorts of noises and sounds. Auggie couldn't keep the joy from his face. They talked to her new family and found she had already met dozens of cousins and there would never be an issue of her being alone in her lifetime. Auggie felt his heart brighten at this. The right choice had been made, and Violet was exactly where she belonged. Auggie laughed when the little girl giggled. She sounded so happy, so healthy, Auggie felt tears in his eyes, and he hoped Annie had tears as well, because then she might not notice his.

When Annie disconnected the link on Auggie's MacBook Air, she squeezed Auggie's hand. "Ready for another go?"

"You bet. Set 'er up."

The Skype chimed, and Auggie took a deep breath, trying to look composed, but his pleasure at their morning schedule put the smile back on his face.

The calls were made on Saturdays. Auggie sent them a message the night before to confirm the times and again this time, all had come back with affirmative responses.

"Who?" Auggie asked, as the computer chimed.

"Gianna," Annie said as the sound of the call connected and was picked up at the other end.

"Say _hello_," an accented male voice said, and Auggie heard a small _Hello_, and he felt his whole smile cover his face.

"Hey, Gianna!" Annie and he both said at the same time.

Annie switched to Italian, and coaxed the little girl out of her shyness. Auggie asked her about her new house and if she had any pets. She began to open up and chat, and Annie asked her if she had been dancing for her grandparents. Her response was to get up and disappear from the screen, as Annie informed Auggie. Her grandfather turned the camera so Annie could see the little girl begin a routine. She told Auggie what she was seeing, and described the lacy white tutu the child was wearing over her leggings and T-shirt. He could hear footsteps in no particular rhythm in the background on the speaker, and he sat, a look of anticipation and attention on his face. When he heard the sounds stop, Annie began to clap and he did the same.

"Brava, Gianna!" Annie said. "That was beautiful, you're going to be the most wonderful dancer!"

Auggie wanted to complement her, but he wasn't sure how. He couldn't see her dance. He just knew she was wobbly, and inventive, and totally absorbed as she did it. He imagined it that way, and it made her even more real to him.

"Wait," said the little girl, running close to the microphone again. Auggie furrowed his brows, to show his invested interest. She leaned in close and Auggie could hear her breathing. In English, her voice almost beside him, the little girl said, "Now, I have a dance for Auggie."

Auggie sat, curious as to what this would be. He heard her move off again, and then the voice of her grandfather telling them to be patient while the little starlet prepared.

Moments later, after hushed voices of Gianna and her grandmother, Auggie heard the loud and distinct sound of tap shoes clinking along a hard floor. She came close again and said, "My _Nonna_ buy me this, so you can see me dance, too," she said proudly, unaware of how this took Auggie off-guard. Annie grinned and took his hand, squeezing it. This time, Auggie dipped his head and closed his eyes, listenning to the little girl dancing for him thousands of miles away.

How could he feel so happy? He had thought happiness like this would never come to him. Too many things had gone wrong. Things kept getting worse and Auggie just threw himself into his work. There was so much more to life than that. He had been telling Annie all along this very thing, and it was really starting to dawn on him that he hadn't even realised it fully himself until recently, maybe not until this very moment. That little girl was dancing for him and he couldn't see any of it. And yet, every image came into his mind full and clear, her lacy tutu, her hair in two loopy braids, even a face that he couldn't quite set to stone, but was almost clear in his imagination. And this was enough, because it was true, it was real, and it was the best place he had ever been, plain and simple.

Auggie thanked Gianna, so proud of her, and telling her how grateful he was that she made a way for him to enjoy her dancing. It amazed him how creative and accepting most kids were about things. The little girl clip-clapped to the laptop again, and everyone got ready to say good bye. Auggie and Annie both blew kisses toward the laptop screen, and then the call ended once more.

"Ohhh," Auggie said, lying back against the back of the chair. "That was fantastic," he said.

"Yeah, you looked pretty pleased about the whole thing," she said, leaning against him. "You're gonna be a terrific dad," she told him.

"We've gone from it being a possibility to it being a _going to_?" Auggie asked.

"Not technically... but, yeah. I think so."

"Well, let's do some more preparation, there, Mama Bear. Give my girly a call there; see if we can get Alessia to talk to us."

The shy four-year-old, who had been so quiet with Auggie, but so present to him, was very hard to read over Skype. Auggie had the most difficulty connecting with her over the internet. Annie talked to Alessia's aunt for a little while, and she told Auggie that Alessia was quietly sitting, and then she pressed her hand on Auggie's arm.

"What?" he whispered.

They heard Alessia's aunt laughing, and then she spoke both to the little girl and to Annie and Auggie on the other side of the screen. "Are you touching them? Yes? She has her hand on the screen, she touches you both. She's nodding."

Auggie was amazed. He was hoping on the flight home that the little girls would remember them, but he didn't realise that the connection he'd felt had been both ways.

"Hey, Sweetie," Annie said. "You all right?" She said in a quieter voice, "She's nodding."

"Of course she is," Auggie said. "Hey, Kiddo, are you having fun with your cousins?"

"_Sì_," the little girl said, loud enough for Auggie to hear. He smiled broadly.

Then, "Ya doin' okay? Are things good?"

"_Sì_, Auggie," she said. And then she started. Auggie couldn't believe it, but the little girl began to talk, in Italian. Annie told him the little girl continued to stand close to the computer or laptop they were using in her home and it was if she was only talking for Auggie's sake. She told him she saw a zoo, and she told him she ate three bowls of gelato at a family party. She told him she missed him, and she asked him if he would come tell her a story. Annie's hand clenched Auggie's tightly, and he could feel her emotion breaking through just from that squeeze.

"I will, one day, I promise, okay? I promise that we will come and I will tell you lots of stories, okay?"

"_Sì_, okay." She fell quiet again.

"_Ti amo, Piccola_," Auggie said.

"_Ti amo_," she said back. "_Mi manchi_."

"We do, too, we miss you lots," Annie said, her voice back in control. "And Auggie's right, we're going to come and visit you, okay? Not now, but soon."

It was hard, hanging up. The little girl had become quite animated in her talk with them, and Annie knew it was all for Auggie. She'd seen what had happened with the two of them. Something sweet had developed between two people that might have a hard time connecting with others: one a grown-up, and one a small, frightened child.

Annie leaned over and rubbed Auggie's shoulder. "That was so wonderful, wasn't it?"

"What kind of amazing lives will they have with firecracker starts like they've had?" Auggie mused.

"Maybe as amazing as ours," Annie said, pulling him to his feet. "Speaking of which, let's go grab something to eat across the way and head over town. Our first appointment is at eleven-thirty."

Auggie felt his watch. "Plenty of time," he said.

"I was thinking we might stop over at my storage unit," Annie said. "I have a surprise for you."

Auggie grinned. He had an inkling. He also knew needed to make one more step forward.


	4. Chapter 4

**I believe we all know the score. I don't own anything, USA owns everything but the faith and goodwill of its former viewers. I make no profit from my renderings of their Covert Affairs characters.**

**I want to thank the #CovertCrew, who keep me rallied and keep my spirits up. I'm never getting over this stupid "c-word". Instead of therapy, I wrote you this:**

Chapter Four

They took a cab to Annie's storage unit after having something to eat and a couple of cups of coffee.

"I know your surprise, Annie," Auggie said.

"I know you know."

Of course she knew.

"And?" said Annie. "Is it okay?"

Auggie thought about it for a minute. He wasn't sure, to be honest. When he had given the car to Annie, inside, he'd hoped he'd get to ride in it with her. But deep down, he knew he was passing it on, giving that part of his life away. He was going to marry Parker, and he wasn't going to drive a Corvette anymore.

He'd saved up for it. It was pristine. He'd been putting the money away, and then when he had enough, he paid down on it, and then it was in his hands. Natasha had never been in it, had never even seen it. He'd kept it a secret, he'd felt it was a bit silly, in a way; such a guy thing. But he'd loved it. It was perfect; it purred like a kitten and shone like a star in the sun. He'd taken it on a few good long rides, top down, cruising along. So low to the ground, the turns were as tight as a drum. He'd had some good shocks put in it, to make the ride a bit smoother. Corvettes weren't known for their comfort, but for the feel of the road below.

And then, he'd put it up on blocks, covered it over, and took his sorry, angry ass to Iraq. And that was the end of that.

Now, as he drew closer to that same car, he was having mixed feelings. Not sitting behind the wheel, being a passenger in the car that had meant freedom, being back in the car that reminded him of driving, of the sights of the open road, it wasn't something he wanted to deal with at the moment. But it was happening.

"I don't know," he said, honestly.

"We don't have to," she said softly. "We can just have the taxi go to the first appointment."

Auggie put his hand out to her. Of course, she took it immediately. He smiled affectionately at her. "No, I gave that car to you because I wanted you to have it. And since I knew you, I'd wanted to have _you_. Though I didn't let myself really know that as much as I should have. I didn't want that car to go to someone who didn't get it. I guess, in a way, I wanted to know it was still here, in your hands. I couldn't see anymore, but you could, and you had become a part of me. I guess I wanted maybe to somehow still be able to... does this sound stupid... that maybe I could still be connected to driving, to seeing, through you. I already knew by that time that I could see way more with your eyes than anyone else's."

"So... what do we do about it?"

"We go. I get over it."

"Auggie, Hun. If you're not ready-"

"I'm ready, Annie. It's going to be cool. I just have to adjust to sitting on the other side. I still get to ride in it. Right?"

"You'll be with me."

"And _that_ doesn't scare me at all," Auggie teased her, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, I'm a good driver," she said, a smile in her voice.

"You're the best," he said. "One of the many things I find hot about you."

"It's gonna be okay. You sat behind the wheel a lot when it was up on blocks, didn't you?"

"Any time I needed to think. Away from everything else."

"It's just going to be different." Annie stroked his hand with her fingers.

Auggie sighed. Just like everything.

At the storage unit, Annie opened the door, leading Auggie to the front, putting his hand on the hood of the car.

"I had it all tuned up last week, and it's all insured and ready for the road. I'll even let you drive on the straight away."

Auggie chuckled. "No, I don't think that's probably a good idea. I think I should stay out of the driver's seat." He didn't want to tell her it wouldn't ever be enough, to sit in that seat and have someone tell him where to steer and when to shift and not to be able to just drive. He didn't want to hurt her by saying it would never be enough.

"Honey, you're _always_ in the driver's seat," Annie said, as they uncovered it and Annie stashed the cover on a crate. "I have a few things here from Danielle's. I moved a lot of it here. I guess we'll have to go through it, too."

"That's what it's all about," Auggie said, walking around the car, his hand trailing slowly along the curves of it, seeing it in his mind again. Was it bluer than he remembered? He wasn't sure anymore, but he still pictured it in his head as his fingers saw it below them.

"Top up or down?" Annie asked gently. He realised she was watching him. He turned to her and put on a half-hearted smile, which he knew immediately that she saw right through.

"Down. Let's put it down. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right." He trailed back to help her take the roof down.

"Yeah?"

"You bet," Auggie said. "Yeah." He was going to get past this moment, and it was going to be fine. He wasn't going to break down. He wasn't going to feel sorry for himself. It was amazing, he had the chance to ride in his dream car once more, and with someone he trusted, someone that loved him even though he could never drive it again. He had the chance to feel the road under him and the wind whipping through his hair. It would be all right.

He trailed his hand back along the door until he reached the handle. He slid his fingers around it and pulled the heavy door open. They didn't make them like this anymore. He touched the seat, and then let himself drop down into it. It was much easier without the roof, and he settled himself into the seat, taking his messenger bag and putting it down at his feet before reaching for the seatbelt. Annie was beside him in a moment, and the engine roared to life. Auggie closed his eyes, feeling its power.

"You ready?" Annie asked, and instead of concern in her voice, he heard daring. A grin.

He reached his hand over and bumped it onto her hand resting on the shift. He enveloped her smaller hand with his and he smiled at her. "I'm ready," he said.

She turned on the radio, and Auggie grinned. It was the right song for the right occasion. He heard Annie giggling as she began to sing along with the Beach Boys.

"_Good, good, good, good vibrations_!"

How could he even think to ask for more than this? He laughed, and ran his hand through his hair, as they sped up.

"Turning!" Annie called and Auggie braced himself, remembering the feeling of hugging the road so tight the turn felt like a mere smooth arc. He couldn't help but smile. It was different, but different wasn't always bad. "Whaddaya think?" She called to him.

"Can you go faster?" Auggie asked, feeling brave in the moment.

"You want faster, Buster? You got it. Just let me get out to the straightaway."

"Where are we?" Auggie asked, suddenly puzzled.

"Where there aren't a lot of people," Annie said. "Where you're gonna get your request."

At that minute, she gunned it, knocking it into fifth as she caught enough speed. Auggie just leaned back and took in the feeling of the tires whirring around him, the slight angle of the road, the sound that reflected back to him off the objects they passed: a guard rail, a building, an open space where the sound of the wheels disappeared into the distance. Auggie absent-mindedly slid his left fingers over the stick shift, feeling the power of the engine rumbling into his hand. He sighed, trying not to reflect, trying only to be in the present. He took his hand away and instead, put his right elbow on the frame of the open window. This was his ride now, he was shotgun. As that thought crossed his mind, Annie whooped and took a turn, and Auggie shouted along with her, holding her back, pushing her on. His life was with this woman, and this woman gave him anything he needed without even thinking. He was a lucky, lucky man.

Annie finally slowed down and swung back into town. There were four houses on their agenda; they had researched online until they had narrowed it down to these four.

"You're sure you don't want the swimming pool?" Auggie asked, as he heard the sound of traffic around them again.

"Well, as much as the exercise would be wonderful, I really don't think that one was in our budget."

"No. We blew a lot of that budget already on that trip that was worth twenty times as much."

"Auggie... you get a pension from your time in Iraq, right?"

"I get all sorts of things from that little excursion. But yeah. I get a pay-out or two. We'll have to go through all that, too, you know. Paperwork. The fun stuff."

"Well, we'll do it in the spacious new home we're both going to love. Maybe not this one. Maybe not the next one. But we'll find it."

"I have no doubt," said Auggie.

They arrived at the first house and the realtor was there ahead of them. They climbed out of the car, and Auggie unfolded his cane and trailed his hand to the front of the car and Annie gave him her arm.

"Mr. Anderson and Ms. Walker?" asked the realtor, sounding momentarily flustered.

"Yes," Auggie said, sticking out his hand.

"Hi," said the woman, taking his hand. "My name is Morag." She shook Annie's hand, too. "So, is this your first home?" she asked, and they followed her toward the door.

"Yes," they both replied.

"We just got engaged," Annie said, proudly, and Auggie could tell she was showing her ring. He felt his face radiating a goofy smile, but he couldn't help it right then. This wasn't an op. This wasn't a NOC. This was their real life, a real engagement, their own decision.

"Oh, that's beautiful," Morag said, admiring the ring on Annie's hand, "and so different."

"That's Annie," said Auggie, smiling.

Inside the house, there was nothing Auggie could distinguish. The furniture was sparse, and the rooms gave off an echo. They walked from room to room, Morag giving the run-down on the features of the house, as Annie gave Auggie a visual description of their surroundings. The house wasn't big, but Auggie could tell Annie wasn't feeling it. They asked all the questions, and discussed the options, and then they moved on to the next house, which was a little closer to central.

"Is there anything you'd be needing, any accessibility issues?" the realtor asked them. She'd obviously had time to think about their situation on the way here.

"No," Annie said. "I mean, we'll take care of that part. Right?" She turned to Auggie. They'd talked about that, but Auggie had assured Annie that there wasn't anything in a house that couldn't be adjusted for him. More important was that they could expand into a family in the home they chose.

"Yeah," he said. "We'll know it when we _see_ it," Auggie said with a grin.

The second house felt closer to what they were looking for. It was two storeys and had three bedrooms. Auggie and Annie walked around it a few times, and then checked out the back yard. When they climbed back in the car, they were feeling a bit more positive about it.

The third house, Auggie knew was a no-go as soon as they stepped inside the door. It was too cramped, and he ran into a door frame, not once, but twice, even with Annie there. The kitchen was smaller, too, and they layout was not open enough for his ease. They wrote it off and headed to the last house.

"Don't worry," Annie said, as they headed along the cul-de-sac toward the final appointment. "We have plenty of time. We don't need to rush into this. We can try again next weekend and the weekend after."

"I know," replied Auggie. "No rushing here."

"Most people don't find the right place for months."

"Well, we're not _most_ people," Auggie said.

"Ain't _that_ the truth," Annie said, pulling into the final driveway. "Oh," she said.

"Oh?"

"Uh... yeah. I can't see the house."

"What do you mean, you can't see it? Is it invisible?" Auggie waited to know, his head tilted toward her.

"Uh, no. It's a long driveway. There are lots of trees."

"Trees? Aren't we in a cul-de-sac in town?"

"Yeah, but this is the last house on this side. Maybe it was the first one in here."

Auggie shrugged. "Well, it can't be worse than that last one."

"Well, it _could_..." Annie drawled. "But I don't think it's gonna be. Wow."

"_Wow_? _Wow_ big? Or _wow_ bad?" Auggie was getting impatient now. Annie parked the car, and Auggie snapped off the seatbelt and climbed out of the car, slinging the messenger over his head. He listened. The sound of the city was muted through the line of trees. A warm breeze blew past him and he turned as Annie moved beside him.

"It's... not big. It's not small, though."

"Well, then Goldilocks, lead me in."

The realtor was out of her car. "This is the most charming house I have in my roster," she said. "It's only been on the market for a short time, it was owned for a long time by one family. They did a lot of upkeep on it in the past few years. It's not as old as some of the houses in this part of town, and it's been upgraded a lot."

"How old?" Auggie asked. He did _not_ want to learn how to become an electrician, carpenter, or plumber anytime soon.

"It looks like it was built ten years ago," Annie said. "But the style of it is old. Like, maybe from the forties."

Auggie groaned.

"1937," Morag said. "New pipes," said. "Rewired in 1999. There was another bathroom added in 1984. It's got a decent plot of land under it."

"Why are they selling?"

"No one left to live here. They're moving into a retirement home closer into the city. They had no children to pass it on to. Well, a son, but he died several years ago."

"That's sad," said Annie, moving Auggie forward. "Stairs," she said. "Five. Railing on both sides. There's a nice verandah on this side, Auggie." He heard her sigh hopefully as she looked around. "Needs some paint."

"The foundation passed a tight inspection last year," Morag read from her page. "I think the well was dug up when they redid all the pipes. We tested it again last week and it's fine. The results are all here in this folder."

"Two storeys?" Auggie asked, feeling the house above him. He couldn't be sure, but the wind was whistling along surface above him, and it sounded higher than one floor might. His guess was a shot in the literal dark, but Annie confirmed it.

"Yes. A neat two-storey house. It looks bigger than it actually is, because of the verandah on the side.

"How many rooms?" Auggie asked Morag.

"The kitchen and living area were converted into an open area. There's a small bathroom downstairs, and a room that could be used as an office. Upstairs, there is a master bedroom and a bathroom connected, and two smaller rooms and a bathroom."

"Oh," Annie sighed, under her breath. Morag opened the door, and they stepped in behind her.

Auggie tilted his head, almost hearing the house talking to him. Their footsteps echoed back to them just enough to give him the dimensions of the room. He kept his hand around Annie's elbow, but let his position relax, moving slowly, getting a feel for it.

"The front hall," Annie said. "It's beautiful wood. The floor is all wood through here. There's a set of stairs to the left, along the wall, and on the right it's a big open, warm room. The verandah runs along that. Evening sun, Auggie. And then back behind the stairs..." she followed Morag, who showed them the small room. "Oh, Auggie, it'd be really perfect for all your tech stuff. You could actually set something up here, instead of just camping here and there with a laptop." They moved over to the open area kitchen. There was an island, and to the left, next to the office, a small laundry room.

Annie described it as best she could, from the tile floor to the deep, two-basin sink. She told him the appliances were a bit outdated, but he reminded her that everything in his apartment was his own, and he'd be better off having familiar appliances anyway.

"We could do this kitchen over like yours easy," Annie said, placing his hand on the island, and walking around to look in the cupboards. "The fridge is even down in the same corner," she grinned.

Auggie felt the countertop. It felt like his own island under his fingertips. He traced along it, feeling the size and shape.

"Windows?" he asked.

Annie moved to one. "They look tight." He heard her unlock one and she was delighted as it swung open. "When were these replaced?" she asked.

"They replaced them in 2004, it says," said Morag.

"Can we go upstairs?"

"Certainly." Morag motioned for them to come and Annie bumped her hand to Auggie in passing and they headed to the stairs. Morag went first, and Annie put Auggie's hand on the handrail along the wall.

"Two handrails, one on the wall. Three stairs, ninety-degrees right, and then... um..."

Auggie smiled. "It's okay. I got this. Thanks." He kept one hand on the railing and used his cane and Annie's instructions, and after the second set of ten stairs, he was at the top. Annie described the little landing that connected to the hallway down the middle of the upstairs. Two smaller bedrooms and a bathroom at the end. On the right, the master bedroom over the varanda, set up with a perfectly beautiful little bathroom with a large tub. Annie kept her running commentary going in between Morag's selling points.

They made their way back downstairs and Morag told them she was going to go get them all a coffee while Annie and Auggie walked around to look a bit closer without her hanging over them. She knew when to let a sale work its own magic.

Annie explored a bit herself as Auggie paced through the rooms, touching the door frames or furniture or walls as he passed close. She went by him a few times and he just put out his hand. She always grabbed it as she passed. A little connection, a smile, something tangible to show him they were in it together. He heard her come back into the room and move towards him again.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I don't know. I didn't expect it would be this easy."

"No, I know. I mean, we can keep looking. It's probably out of the price range with all these upgrades. It's just... it's close to town without being in the middle of it. And... it's got trees. And the verandah. We could hang a bed in it like Joan's in the safe house in Sardinia. I mean, if we bought it."

"Right," agreed Auggie. But then he shook his head, trying to worry himself into practicality. "But... I mean, we didn't even really have time to check anything else out."

"What if there isn't anything else?" Annie asked. "What if this is the one?"

"Is it?" Auggie was starting to feel like he was under water. How had this happened this quickly? He'd expected weeks, months, even, of searching. And this little house seemed right, at the end of the first day.

"I don't know. I mean, we'll have to get a contractor or someone to come look at it. You know. Make sure it's not a money trap. But I don't think it is. I think..."

"You like it," Auggie said, smiling.

"I can see a family here," Annie said.

Auggie closed his eyes and pulled her close. The house even had the right smell, and he couldn't even pinpoint what it was. It smelled clean and woody and maybe of nutmeg and lemon oil. Each part came together to say _strength_, _love_, _family_. Or maybe he was reading too much into it.

"Can we afford it?"

"Can we afford not to do it? I have enough for a down payment at the very least, Annie, and probably more."

"More? What are you, Mr. Pennywise?"

"Well, I was collecting disability and pensions from the Special Forces and I kinda invested a lot of it."

"Invested?"

"Well, I mean, I don't live above my means, and they pay for me to eat out and have things taken care of. I save a bit here and there. Plus, I have friends who know how to invest."

Annie was shaking her head. "You have friends _literally_ everywhere."

"Better believe it, Sugarplum."

"Auggie, I don't know what to say. You keep surprising me."

"I'm not rich, Annie. I'm just saying, we have enough. We can have a life. I counted on this before, and I didn't feel I deserved that money. I felt... I got what I deserved, for not knowing it was a trap."

"Jezus, Auggie, that's a heavy load to carry. And you know now it's not true."

"Well, the only thing I could think to use it for was the possibility of providing for a family. In case I wasn't bringing in enough. I didn't know Langley would want me back, and I didn't want to not be able to provide, if I had a family."

"This house would suit that purpose. I think it was meant to suit that purpose."

"Are _we_?" Auggie said, with only a half- joking smile.

"I think we've pretty much proven it," Annie said, and then she giggled nervously. "I'm scared, Auggie," she said through a nervous smile. "I mean, it didn't seem real until this. I don't know what to do."

"Well, I think," Auggie said, facing her, putting one hand on each shoulder, "what we do, is go home and we think about this. Pros. Cons. Are we ready? And is this the place? We can look online a bit more, see if there's anything that compares, is closer to work, whatever. And then we talk."

"I really like it," Annie said in a small voice, as if she was afraid for Auggie to know how much.

"I can tell," he said, his eyes crinkling up in the grin that caught his face. "I think I like it, too."

"Really?"

"It feels... _right_."

She was nodding, he could feel the steady swaying of her shoulders. "It really does," she whispered.

Morag had chosen that moment to return. She crossed the hardwood briskly, a smile plastered on her face. Annie took the coffees, thanking her, passing one to Auggie, pushing it gently against his folded arms.

"Any decisions?"

"We're going home to think about this one," Auggie said. "How long do we have?"

"Well, I was going to be showing it again on Tuesday."

"Tuesday!" Annie said. "So we have two days, Auggie."

"We'll call you Monday," said Auggie, holding out his hand. "Can we have the listing in paper?"

"Certainly, I'll give it to Annie here. I'll lock up, if you care to look at the yard or grounds, feel free. There is a small fence back behind that tree line, shows the property line. Okay? You have my card; call me if you have any questions at all. Like I said, this house hasn't been up for long, and I don't expect it to stick around at this price. Not with all the upgrades."

"You will hear from us Monday morning," Auggie said, with a grin he knew would keep her in his favour.

They followed her out, and thanked her before taking a stroll around back. Annie looked at the verandah as they passed below and she didn't see any bad boards or rough edges. The last owners had loved this house. It deserved love, she mused. Auggie just smiled, content to hear her. A year ago, he would not have believed it possible.

It was amazing, how things could change.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow. I'm really pumped. I hope you're pumped. I was sitting here thinking, I can do this forever. It's like writing a whole book, but different. So many ideas. Ones that I can't ever profit on because I don't own Covert Affairs like Corman and Ord and the USA Network. But without profit, I do it for love.**

Chapter Five

Annie picked up Auggie's hand and placed the glass of red wine in it, then took her own in hand and sat beside him on the sofa. Auggie picked the remote control up from its usual place and turned on the television, searching for the DVS button to switch on the Described Video. He told Annie that she didn't need to leave it on when she watched, because he knew it could get annoying. Instantly, the narration filled in the empty spaces between the dialogue and music that everyone could hear, and Auggie could see in his mind what everyone else was seeing onscreen.

"It must have been strange, turning that on at first," Annie said, taking a drink of her wine.

"You kidding? It's _still_ strange. I don't watch a lot of TV. I only got this one because someone made fun of me for having such an ancient model, and I realised my guests might appreciate something a bit less antiquated. And if I'm somewhere else, no-one else has that on their TV, so I'm just not that used to it. So, yeah, every time I turn that on, it feels foreign. At first. Once I'm watching something, I forget about it, it's just normal after a while. It's weird for you, though, isn't it? I know it can be distracting."

"No, I can get used to it," Annie said. "I think it would be useful while I'm doing something else and am just using a TV for background. I used to do that a lot in college."

"Yeah," Auggie said. "It's good for that, especially if you can see. If I loose myself in the sound of the TV, I'm down to three for doing other things," Auggie said. "But I get the concept."

They had come home from their last appointment in a buzz of anticipation and energy. Auggie had made tacos, and Annie had looked up more real estate online, to see if they were missing anything. There had been three listings that looked interesting enough to share them with Auggie, but even just reading the full information was enough for them to veto each one. Every time, they came back to the little house hidden off the road, and the things that made it special.

Auggie took a sip of the wine. "There're still things that take me by surprise," Auggie said. "Even after all this time."

"I bet," Annie said, peering at him.

"I knew this apartment before. I mean, I saw it. I lived here since I started working for the CIA. When I came back, I had it kinda... retrofitted. I didn't want to move, because I already knew my home."

"This is going to be all new..." Annie mused, understanding him. "It's like letting go of one more sight, isn't it?"

Auggie nodded his head. She had expressed it exactly. He felt her hand press on his knee and he smiled back at her, grateful.

"It's worth it, though," he said, more confidently. "I think we should put a bid in on that place."

"Really?"

"Why not? We wanted a house that suits us. We wanted something for a family. We wanted something different. We want to get married. Why should we wait to see if there's something else?

Only because we're afraid of leaving our comfort zones, really. And we are always stepping out of those when we're together. And we're together forever now, so why not? Why not now?"

He heard Annie's glass clink down and then she took his glass from his hand and set it down, too. Then she wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself in to him so tightly he thought she'd crack her own ribs.

He laughed, his own arms around her small frame. "I take it you're on board?" he chuckled.

"I don't want to say how much I want it, in case we're outbid or something is wrong with it," she said.

"How about, I call Kenny Travers tomorrow and he can come over to take a look at it. He was my contractor when I did this place over. And he was also in boot camp with me."

"Of course he was. I'm sure he owes you three more favours for something," Annie said, putting the wine back into Auggie's hand.

"No," Auggie grinned. "I think we're pretty much even right now," he said. "I guess I'm going to have to work on that."

"Do you think he'd come Monday?" Annie asked.

"I'll call him in the morning. We'll know for sure what we're dealing with, and then we can make our bid accordingly." He reached up and found her chin, cupping her cheek. "Okay?"

He felt her nod. "I'm ready," she said. "I was scared before, but... I think I'm really excited now. I'll try not to be too excited, though, Auggie. It might fall through."

"Yup. And then we have to keep believing that it's right, and that something even better will come."

She shook her head. "I can't imagine something even better. But I'll contain my excitement."

"You don't have to contain anything," Auggie said, dropping his hand and taking another sip of wine. "I love your enthusiasm."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie had a good chat with his contractor friend on Sunday morning, and Kenny Travers said he'd make a special trip for Auggie to check the house out but Auggie had to take him out for drinks later.

"Are you coming?" Auggie asked.

"I don't want to break my heart if it's a bad showing," Annie said. "You go ahead. Find out. I'm going to call Danielle and then I'm going to go for a run. And then, if you want, I'll come get you from your carousing later."

So Auggie had Kenny come over and pick him up and they headed over to the house to meet with the real estate woman at two. Auggie knew he wasn't much use as Kenny thoroughly made his tests and assessments. His friend looked through the paperwork and tested the soil and the water himself. Auggie was impressed with how thorough he was, and he knew Kenny would not try to rip Auggie off. If anyone should be nervous of being taken, it was the realtor. Auggie leaned on his cane, listening to Kenny asking Morag question after question. The two of them went into the basement and Auggie reached out and touched the wall, sweeping his cane in front of him, walking around a little to get more of a feel for the layout around him.

Annie wanted this. He'd come a long way with her in the past year, from barely getting along to buying a home and being engaged to her. A lot of work had gone into it and it was worth every bit of pain and struggle, just like it had been for so many things in his life. This house might be another one of those things, if they set their hearts on it. He might have to learn some things about home management and care. He'd have to learn to look after a home, like his father had, but without the benefit of actually being able to _look_. He was sure he could do it, though, and Annie obviously had faith in him, or she wouldn't be so eager.

He moved to the left, across the open floor, and felt with his hand along the wall until he found the door to take him to the verandah. He unlocked it and stepped outside, feeling the breeze shifting along around him. He paced the deck of the verandah and learned its dimensions and size. The verandah wrapped around three sides of the house, and along the back, in the middle of the length of it, was another set of stairs, where the back door let out into a presumable garden. Auggie moved along the wall and found the door, as he had mapped in his head correctly, and then returned along it, around the corner, back to the side door, which had probably been added later, when the walls had come down inside.

Why had they done such work to this house? Obviously, Auggie thought, entering back into the house and locking the door again, they treasured it. And obviously they'd hoped to pass it on to their son. A hard thing, losing the one child that you counted on carrying on your legacy. Had they kept on keeping up the house after that devastation?

Auggie heard voices and he turned expectantly as Morag and Kenny came in.

"Auggie, Man," said Kenny.

"Yeah, Kenny, what'd you find?"

"A little swampy at the back lot but it doesn't seem to be any problem for the foundation. It's pretty tight down there, I don't see any wet spots and this time of year we'd see them. I checked the windows and the pipes. The water heater is old, should be upgraded, but it's not rusted out or anything. I don't know how much insulation in it, to be honest, you'd only know from living in it, whether it stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter, but the way the windows have been made to keep the original, you have all the right lighting for both seasons, so it should be bright and no draughts. The heat is electric, but there's a woodstove that will need a new pipe just here along this wall, Auggie, you may have found it on the tiling?"

"No," Auggie said. "I didn't." In his head he heard the bell ringing _SOLD_. A wood stove. His grandparents had only had a wood stove. Auggie loved the heat and the smell and the crackle of a wood stove, and he imagined that it would captivate him even more now. Annie had neglected to tell him about the stove. He wondered why. Maybe she didn't want to give him too much to hope for. Maybe she didn't care for wood stoves. Maybe she hadn't even noticed. He knew that was a lie to himself, she was a spy, of course, she had noticed. She didn't know his grandfather had taught him how to stack the kindling so the air could pass through it and keep the flames going until the hardwood was hot enough to stay lit. She didn't know that he'd become the best campfire starter in Eagle Scouts.

He turned, moving to the middle of the wall, his cane coming in contact with iron and a stone tile apron. He reached out and felt the cold heavy stove, and his mouth quirked up in a lost memory of his grandmother telling his grandfather that the youngest boy was the quietest so that he could listen to the learning he was always doing. _If only she could see all the listening he was doing these days_, he thought. He reached up, following the stove pipe back to the bricks of the chimney in the wall, then returned to the front of the stove, his fingers following its sturdy shape, finding their way to the door handle. He twisted his wrist and cranked the door open and then smiled, shutting it again. It made the same sound, that sound he remembered hearing at three in the morning at his grandparents' house, of his granddad going down to stoke the wood stove, the creak and clank of that old stove door.

He realised again that he was being watched. He stood straight and turned back to them. "So there's nothing to report that will take us by surprise?"

"Minor details, Auggie. Nothing earth-shattering, if I'm completely honest. I mean, I figure you'd want something done about that kitchen, the way we did your apartment?"

"Yeah, I will definitely want that, Kenny, and you're my man."

"That island is granite. But I could file off those corners. They're not sharp, but it's not a problem to round them off some. It's got good potential for somebody, Auggie. Nice little family home."

"Damn it, Kenny, you were supposed to tell me it was a money pit and that it was sinking in quick-sand and there is an alligator in the well or something."

Morag laughed at that, and Auggie shook his head. He stepped forward to thank her, and she patted his hand as she shook it. "I'm not worried about trying to sell this place, Mr. Anderson, so I can honestly tell you that I think this house is one that has been well taken care of. And I look forward to hearing from you."

She locked up behind them and they returned to their vehicles. Auggie remained lost in thought until Kenny was parking at the bar. He took Kenny's arm and let him steer him to an empty table.

"I wasn't lying, Man," said Kenny, as he poured them their first mug from the jug. "Really, not a lot wrong with it. May need some insulation down the road, but my guess is, it was all re-insulated when it was rewired. How'd you find that little gem?"

"Annie found it. Or were you referring to Annie? Because she works with me, that's how I found _her_. And she found the house online. I probably would have passed that one right over, from the photo."

"Oh, on-the-job romance, I'll drink to that." Kenny took a swig and set the mug down. "Well, you seem to not let the gems get away," he said.

"How much work would it take you to make it safe for a blind man?" Auggie asked, taking a drink from his own beer.

"Three weeks, tops. Probably not even that. How long did your apartment take? Two weeks, I think. I still have the same three guys I call on, they'll do 'er up for you."

"Yeah, well... Annie and I will make up our minds and then if we do put in our bid, this couple still has to accept it, right? We can't go too low-ball. And I don't want to be in some bidding war where the price skyrockets and then everyone pulls out." He shook his head. "This is crazy, man. I did _not_ think this was going to happen this quickly."

"Sometimes you have to just leap," Kenny said. "Come on, drink up, we have a whole other pitcher here."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Hi," Annie said, sticking out her hand.

"Hi, Annie, it's nice to finally meet you, I've been hearing about you all day, and I feel pretty close."

Annie laughed. "How many of these did you boys have?"

Auggie tried to peer up at her blearily. "Don't worry, I wasn't gonna drive," he said.

Annie rolled her eyes and sat beside him. "We'll put some food into you, you'll be as good as new," she said, winking at Kenny. "You're not driving, either, right?" she asked Auggie's friend.

"No, no, don't worry. Cab's on its way. I'll come in the morning and get the car. Thanks, though."

Auggie thanked Kenny, and told him he'd be in touch. He gratefully took Annie's elbow and let her lead him out into the late afternoon air. He centred himself over his feet, trying not to let the ground tilt. It was hard enough to stay balanced sober, but Annie kept his equilibrium intact as she carefully guided him to her car. She hadn't brought the Corvette, it was safe in the storage unit, waiting for their next excursion, and Auggie was silently glad, because he was worried about the sickness factor there was in a ride in that car with Annie at the wheel.

"Mexican?" she asked him as she climbed in beside him. He pulled apart the cane and folded it, and then fumbled with the seat belt.

"Make it Indian and I'll pay," he said.

"You pay and I'll make it worth your while."

"I believe a deal has just been struck," Auggie said, and leaned his head back against the seat.

She pulled in and got them a couple of coffees at a drive-through, and Auggie felt his head clearing already. He hoped he didn't get groggy, because he got very accident-prone, and post-liquor afternoons often ended up in that state of mind.

"So, I take it you guys still get along," Annie said, giving Auggie her elbow as they headed into the restaurant.

"Yeah, he's a good guy. He said he'd bring his team around to re-do the kitchen for us if we take it."

Annie placed his hand on the back of a bench seat and Auggie slid in, absent-mindedly checking out the surface of the table. He folded his cane and laid it on the bench beside him as their waitress moved in to leave them menus and pour them each a glass of water.

"So," said Annie. "Guess she didn't notice that white cane." She took his menu and placed it under hers, and then proceeded to give him a run down their choices.

"So? Tell me what he said, I'm afraid to even ask."

"It's all good, Annie. He said minimal work, some kitchen renos for me, you know, and some cosmetic work. It seems to be all working in our favour. For the first time."

"First time?" Annie asked. "I'd say the day Joan assigned me to you was our first in our favour."

The waitress came to take their order and their menus. Auggie was feeling much more clear-headed, and he was feeling downright happy by the time he was digging into his curry.

"So I guess it's all a go," he said. "We'll call her tomorrow and put in our bid and then we'll wait. And then try to ignore our anxiety about the whole thing, you know, the easy part."

"What's the hard part?"

"There is no hard part," Auggie said, shrugging at her, giving her his best grin. "We just keep on this trajectory, one day at a time, together, and it's going to be fine."

"I'm sure it will not be this easy all the time."

"Nope. I wouldn't be very real if I thought that. It's going to get downright frightening and downright maddening at times. All of it. And I'm game to do it anyway. Because no matter what, Annie, I want to be with you. I'd rather go through hell with you than be placid without you."

"I guess you're really going for it," Annie said.

"You bet. There's no time like the present. We've both made bigger mistakes, I think. This one isn't one. And I think we should actually set a date to get married."

"Wow." Annie gave a burst of surprised laughter. "Now it's happening fast. What brought this on?"

"Well, I mean, it goes without say that when a fella gives his gal a ring," Auggie smirked at her, not able to contain himself, "they usually set a date to actually be married."

"Do I get to choose?" Annie grinned.

"Obviously. My part in the whole event is over. That's all the guy gets. Nice proposal, wear a suit on a given day, and don't get too drunk in front of the guests. The rest is all for the women."

Annie laughed. "Yeah, that doesn't seem fair," she said.

"Yeah, but for whom?" Auggie asked her and he heard her giggle. He took a deep breath. "You don't want a big... wedding... do you?"

"Not really," Annie said. "Do you?"

"Do I look like a big wedding kind of guy?"

"Oh, thank God," Annie said. "I mean, you have a big family, and I don't know any of them, and just the idea of having your family and my family and people from work that aren't really from _work_, and my mother. Booking churches and stuff. I remember doing all that with Danielle."

"Maid of honour?" Auggie asked.

"Yeah. That girl can get pretty flighty about flowers."

Auggie laughed. "I don't doubt it."

"September..." Annie said, a smile in her voice. "I'd like it to be in September. And I _would_ like Danielle to be there."

"I think both ideas are absolutely perfect. Now, did I leave anything? Did I miss anything big?"

"Just a piece of chicken and I already ate it," Annie admitted. "I didn't want to tell you."

Auggie laughed out loud. "Stealing from a blind man," he said. "You have no shame. For _that_ I may just not know how to work the debit machine with my card and need you to step in and help with yours. We can _both_ play _that_ card."

"I'm playing the card that we do whatever we have to do to get out of here and go home, Mr. Anderson, because I have a debt to pay, and you are looking spectacularly appealing right now."

Auggie's smile crinkled his eyes. He waved his hand in the air and called, "Cheque, please!" as he heard her laughter.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie was surprised Annie wasn't tired the next morning. He sure was. Annie had taken inspiration from Auggie's television and had provided Descriptive Video for everything she was doing as soon as they got in the apartment door until they were folded in each others' arms, warm and moist and dozy in Auggie's bed. Auggie had laughed at her creativity, and then he wondered why no-one else had come up with that before. Now, as he lay on the bed, hearing Annie getting out of the shower and getting dressed, humming to herself, he wondered where her energy came from. He surmised it was because of the point that she'd not been intoxicated halfway through the previous day without having a proper recovery.

And then he remembered the house. He sat up, wiping the sleep from the corners of his eyes.

"Morning, Soldier," Annie said as she moved over beside him. The smell of Jo Malone Grapefruit soothed his sense of smell and he reached over, his fingers touching her shoulder, moving up, along her collar bone to her neck. His hand pressed up against the back of her head as he pulled her in for a kiss.

"I could get used to this," Auggie said.

"I think you already are," laughed Annie.

Auggie swung his legs over the edge of the bed, pulling the leg of his lounge pants down over his knee where it was caught, and stretched. "Okay," he said. "Ready?"

"Ready." Annie passed him his phone and he smiled, shaking his head. She must have had it in her hand the whole time. He put it on speaker and closed his eyes, feeling Annie's fingers sneak around his and return the squeeze he gave them.

Morag answered on the third ring.

"It's Auggie Anderson and Annie Walker," Auggie said. He could feel a sense of dread and also a sense of excitement. He didn't want to lose this house now. He wanted to sit next to the wood stove in the dead of the winter, listening to the crackle of flames with Annie. He wanted to enjoy the evening with a cup of coffee out on the verandah while Annie read him the news. He wanted to be able to step outside without having the world bearing down on him. He wanted the time to think and rest and have a different pace. He wanted to share that with Annie, and he wanted to share it with kids. He imagined a swing set out back. He imagined a bike on that long driveway. He imagined a future far more in that split second than he'd dare let himself imagine in years.

"I knew I'd hear from you, but I hadn't expected it first thing. Do you have an offer for me?"

"We do," said Auggie, and tightened his hold on Annie's hand.


	6. Chapter 6

**Yada yada yada I don't own Covert Affairs because it is owned and operated by the lovely Corman and Ord and USA Network yada yada yada insert swear words here.**

Chapter Six

Auggie had made himself think about the dossier in front of him, and the operative he was trying to conduct back from a bad pass-off. He and Annie had put in their bid and now they waited. Morag said she would get back to him hopefully by Wednesday and it was already Thursday. He was having a hard time keeping his mind off of it.

James Decker was back in Langley, and they'd gone down to the gym in the morning. It was less awkward, but Auggie could tell Decker was still trying to get his head around the new Auggie. He laughed a few times, though, and didn't flinch when Auggie took his elbow now. It was coming along, and Auggie wasn't going to push it. He knew that sooner or later James would get used to it and everything would be fine, so he didn't worry about it anymore when the man had a moment or two of fluster. He stopped being so upset with himself when he bumped into things or knocked things over in Decker's presence. He didn't need to give out a false face for Decker at all; let the man see it was okay, he dealt. And moved on. Decker would get used to it.

What Auggie did worry about was that James had found out the Belenko had moved a business into Cuba to distribute Russian guns for an uprising against the ban-lift with the US. And what worried Auggie even more was that James also was feeling the same retribution that Belenko himself had felt for his brother's death. Decker wanted to get Belenko for the other men's memories. Auggie knew Decker would listen to orders, or at the very least he would listen to Auggie. But on his own, if he got it into his head, James might get himself in trouble. Auggie promised Decker he would see to it personally that Belenko would be watched and monitored, but he would not give in to James's request to go get the information himself.

At four-nineteen, Auggie's mobile phone rang. He tapped it twice, answering, "Anderson."

"Hello, Mr. Anderson, it's Morag Duncan."

"Hi, Morag," he said, hoping it was all a-go, almost positive it wouldn't be.

"Well, I have a request, actually, from the sellers."

"A request?" Auggie was perplexed. This wasn't how houses sold was it?

"They are a funny old couple, Mr. Anderson. They are willing to except the offer you made, which was lower than their asking price, but only on the condition that they meet you. I told you they love that house. It's a home to them, and they want the right people to get it. I assured them that you and Ms. Walker were good people and looking for the same kind of home to raise a family in, but they still want to meet you. I guess if they approve, you get your house at your ridiculously low price."

"Didn't you show the house?"

"Twice more."

"Did they have to meet them?"

"Can't say. All I can tell you is, I think you're the ones."

Auggie shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. No bidding wars. It was going to be based purely on who impressed them the most. Auggie didn't want to think about who he was going up against. A family already formed, with a Dad that drove a minivan load of boys to hockey?

"When?"

"They're free any time."

Auggie took a deep breath. Annie was out of town until tomorrow. He wasn't sure if Friday would work. He hoped he could keep a Saturday appointment, and so he booked a meeting to take place at a café close to the retirement home where he and Annie would meet Morag and the owners, and then hung up, trying to make the rest of the day somewhat productive. He gave up within three-quarters of an hour, and headed out, taking the shuttle back to his block.

He and Annie had discussed travel, they had looked up bus routes and other means of transportation for Auggie, should Annie not be able to drive, which could be often, with her travel or work schedule. They had found the bus route was as reliable here as anywhere else, and Auggie would only have to go as far as the bus stop at the end of their street, along the main avenue. As for a cab or his driver, it would be a bit further from the centre of town, but the distance was similar in terms of Langley. And Auggie had asked Annie about the main street and there was a very good size bit of local town right here. He'd have no trouble getting groceries, going for produce, heading to the pharmacy, or to the many little restaurants and cafés around the area, once he was familiar.

Everything was too perfect, thought Auggie. If it all went bottom-up now, he knew he'd feel as devastated as Annie would. He shouldn't have thought about it so much that plans were formed. But it happened without prompting, his mind would wander into domesticity and its potential.

Auggie tapped his way along the sidewalk to his building. He'd miss this walk. Every sound, every street, every smell, was as familiar as any neighbourhood view. He'd have to find a new coffee stand, and where they sold really good cinnabuns. He would have to learn the take-outs and the bus route all over again.

But he'd have Annie to come home to. The trade was no comparison for him. He'd learn to walk it so that he could come home to her.

He made his way into his building and up the stairs. The halls were quiet and Auggie listened to the sound of his own footsteps and the tap of his cane as he headed back to the apartment he had lived in for much of his adult life. He'd had safehouses here and there, and the make-believe home in Italy with Helen... But this place had always been his home base. He slid the familiar old door open, hoping a fruitless hope that Annie would be waiting for him, but it was quiet. He folded his cane and put everything into the curved tray on the credenza, and then went to the fridge and took the last beer out. He needed one, to go with his next move.

Sitting on his sofa, he called his parents.

He had a good relationship with his family now. It had been a rough go for a long time, but in the last few years, they'd evened out again. He didn't call on them for anything, preferring to make his own way as he'd always intended. His parents had five children and several grandkids, Auggie had never wanted to put any kind of burden on them. While he knew they were proud of him, they missed him. They'd already almost lost him once, and they wanted to keep him close, he understood that. Auggie had always been more independent than the others, and it didn't surprise them that he wanted to keep his life in a separate place. He wanted them to think he was working at a safe job that didn't endanger the fabric of society so they didn't worry. He hated when they worried. His father tried to make everything right, and his mother fretted and drove herself nuts. He'd watched it happen before, and he wanted no more of it. And so, living in DC, he kept them close by just letting them know he was thinking about them, and he called them enough that they could relax and let him be.

"I didn't think you were going to call me until next week," his mother said. "Though I guess I'm glad you did. What's up, Hun?"

"Oh... you know... We're buying a house."

The response was so loud that Auggie took the ear-bud out of his ear for a second. He'd already gone through all this when they'd come home to DC and he decided to let the family in on the engagement.

Now, his mother was excitedly gushing that they would have somewhere to go to meet this beloved Annie. She asked him if they'd set a date, and she soon started looking on her calendar to prompt him to picking an actual day in September. He told her they weren't doing anything big, and that he'd let her know. The last thing Annie needed was his mother stepping in and taking the day away from her, though Auggie knew his mother wouldn't do it out of spite or any mean spirit. It would be all for love, and possibly a little need to enjoy the bride's planning, having only had boys to marry off.

While Auggie didn't pin down a date, he did let her know that she was welcome to come to the house when and if they became the proud owners and had had a chance to make themselves comfortable in it. By that, he meant he didn't want them to come when he was still running into things and making miscalculations. He needed to look as comfortable and confident as he did when they visited him here in this apartment, which had happened twice since the accident. Auggie wasn't one to be coddled, and wouldn't let them make the trip more often than that because he felt out of place when they were in his comfort zone. His comfort zone was so different than theirs, even more so now. Every mistake he made, every misstep, every accidental spill, it became a big deal, even if only to himself. He knew they were watching him. He knew that they were proud of him, that they were impressed, intrigued, and grateful. He also knew they were sad, they still felt the loss for him even more than he did, because they had given life to him and watched him grow, a sighted boy into a sighted man. It hit them hard. He understood this. But he didn't have to endure it personally, so instead, he took the trip to the old family home every now and then to keep them all happy. He was comfortable enough there to get around without too much mishap and when he was his mother's guest, it felt right for her to cook for her son in her own home. He didn't feel the host's obligation to make things all right this way.

However, this was bound to happen at some point, and Auggie thought he'd rather at least let them know what was going on so he didn't hear about how he never told them all anything. His brother was always informing him that that was a main topic of conversation when the Andersons talked together: how Auggie never told anyone anything that was going on in his life. Of course, his brother knew why, having been read in to Auggie's profession, but he couldn't change their minds about how they thought he was secretive from his own family. Which, Auggie admitted, was kinda true. He _was_ secretive, he _had_ to be secretive. But he realised that his personal life, a home and family, was something that should be shared. He couldn't keep everything secret because his life was so much more than that now.

"I'll keep you in the loop, okay? I'll let you know as soon as it all goes through and we sign the papers. You'll get to come and tell me all the things that I should change, and meet Annie, but I know you won't want to change her in any way."

"Auggie, I'm happy for you. I really am."

"I know, Mum."

"Give my love to her, okay?"

"I will. Give mine to Dad."

"I will. Good luck, Hun."

Auggie ended the call and got to his feet. Talking to his mother had made him hungry, and now the beer was all gone, so he decided he'd better eat something as he caught up on the news of the day. He flipped on the news channel and headed to the freezer.

After he'd eaten, he stayed sitting on the sofa, listening to a news story about Cuba, and his thoughts turned back to Decker. He knew that exact same feeling the Decker was having now. He'd had it boiling inside of him until he was ready to kill Khani with his own two hands for what he had done to his team, what he had done to Auggie's life. He knew Decker was feeling helpless that he'd not even known what had been happening as his team was killed, member by member. He knew Decker wanted to make some kind of balance. But it couldn't be done that way. He needed Decker to realise it before he went too far. It was just like James to keep poking around when he was told not to. It was why he was a perfect member for Auggie's team. It was how he and Auggie had always worked, they got the job done. It was why Auggie had understood so much of Annie's drive, why he'd finally agreed to her plan to go dark. They made the best operatives because they needed to make it right, no matter the cost.

He took his dishes out and put them in the dishwasher. He opened the laptop he'd left at the far end of the island and powered it up. He was anticipating getting McQuaid's gift laptop back; it was being returned to its former technical perfection for him. He would never admit to anyone how fly that laptop was. He wouldn't give Ryan McQuaid the satisfaction of ever hearing how impressed Auggie was with this piece of equipment.

He waited for the phone call he knew would come from Annie before she went to bed. Just hearing her voice made the air around him softer, somehow. When she called, he took the phone to bed, as she was doing the same, and talked to her about nothing until one of them fell asleep. They usually never knew which one of them fell asleep first, but Auggie liked to think that they fell asleep together. He smiled at his own schmaltziness. He told Annie about their meeting on Saturday, and she wondered aloud the same thoughts he'd had. She brightly assured him that it would be fine, and told him that she had a good feeling about this old couple. She told Auggie about the best cherry pastry she'd had since Dani moved, and told him she'd resisted buying a new handbag.

"You never said anything about the wood stove," Auggie said.

"Uh, the wood stove? In the house?"

"Yeah. Don't you like it?"

"I didn't really think about it, Auggie. It is a wood stove. She said it has electric heat. Wood is a hassle, Auggie."

"Did you forget to tell me, or did you just not want to?"

"What do you mean? I was telling you everything I noticed. I didn't even think about the stove. I didn't figure you'd want something like that. You seem much more modern than an old wood stove."

Auggie paused. She didn't figure. "I want to keep it," he said.

"You old softie," she said, a smile in her voice, and any of the tension he'd just been feeling dissipated. "You're going to tell me why your sudden interest in wood stoves while I fall asleep," she said, her voice filled with teasing and with love.

Auggie smiled. How could she know why he'd want it? She was right, he didn't give off the vibe of a woodstove kind of guy, and he didn't know why he'd become already so attached to such a thing. Except that maybe it meant _home, family, comfort_, and that was his new direction. As he told Annie about his grandparents, it became clearer to her and to him what the woodstove stood for in so many ways.

"It's better than a fireplace," Annie mumbled. "We can heat water on it if the power goes out and it's way more efficient."

"Yeah. And you can't sit and watch a wood stove fire, Annie. You have to experience the fire the same way I do in this case. The sound and smell of it, the heat from it. We can sit with our hot chocolate in front of the wood stove and not look at the fire together."

She giggled sleepily and Auggie was not too tired to smile at their conversation. Everything was so comfortable and normal. It was how it was supposed to be. No games, all acceptance.

Once more, no-one was sure who fell asleep first.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie knew she was there, just like he'd always done since he'd met her. He lifted his head and smiled towards the door. "You're back," he said softly.

"I still don't know how you do that," Annie said, walking over to his desk. He rolled his chair out and stood up, grinning as she took him in her arms. "I missed you."

"Me, too," Auggie said, holding her tightly.

Barber entered the room. Instead of floundering and excusing himself as Holman had done last week, Eric just strode over to his desk and set his latté down, saying, "Oh, hey, Annie, you're back. I'm glad."

Annie laughed. "Thanks, Eric."

"Yeah, it's this Sadsack over here has been mopey for two days," Barber said, sitting down and looking through a folder.

"I have not," protested Auggie. "I was working diligently, which is very different."

"He was mopey," Barber stated again to Annie.

Auggie scowled and turned back to Annie, who he knew was laughing at him, and his expression quickly changed. He couldn't help it, she took his frustrations and flipped them away. Auggie turned back to Eric.

"Did you get the Rostjek file?"

"I have it right here, Man. Go. Go home, Auggie. I have it covered."

"You _call_ me if you need me," Auggie said.

"No," Eric said. "We won't. You're going to be meeting some old couple to impress their socks off, and I do _not_ want to be the one to make _that_ not happen. In fact, I'd kill to go watch. I think it'd be a _hoot_."

"A hoot? Barber... nevermind, just..." Auggie turned to the desk drawer, retrieving his things, putting the laser cane in its place. "Thanks, Eric."

"Sure. No problem. Good luck! I'm sure they'll love you both, just like the rest of us." Auggie could hear the smug sarcasm teasing Auggie further, and he laughed.

"You have a good weekend, Eric," Auggie said.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Does this look okay?" Auggie asked. "I don't know what y'wear to meet people who may want to sell you their house."

"You look terrific. They'll love us, Auggie."

He stopped, taking a breath, reaching out and finding her shoulder. He smiled to her. "Yeah, they will," he said. "What's not to love?"

She drew her finger along his chest, leaning up to kiss him. "How about me, how do I look?" she asked him.

He fingered her blouse. "Pale green," he said.

"Nope. Red. Maybe a pink-red."

"Well, I was close," Auggie grinned. "You look beautiful." He touched her hair, sliding his hand over her ear. She had it pulled back into a ponytail. Small details to make impressions. He leaned forward and kissed her back.

"We better take a more responsible ride," Annie said. "We'll take my car."

"They are both your cars, Annie."

"That Corvette will always be your car, Auggie. I just like to drive it."

They readied themselves and locked up, heading down to the parking lot behind the building.

"You realise how much easier it is when we make up a story to get the job done?" Annie asked as they drove down Auggie's street. "I mean, I keep thinking we have to get our story straight and then I realise that we don't have a story, that this is real."

Auggie felt the same way. Even when he'd married Helen, it was for the mission, at the beginning. But with Annie, it had been all truths, hard and wonderful. And the relationship with Helen had been much less, so much less, than this one. He didn't even know Helen as long or as well as Annie before Helen died. Or _not_ died, as the case was. He'd definitely not been through as much in the short time they'd been together. Helen wasn't with him when he could have used the support of a loved one. In fact, Auggie figured, she probably had known about him being in Iraq, she would have found out things. She probably knew he'd been injured, she had probably known at least the bare basics. And he knew nothing except that he'd buried her.

He'd _buried_ Annie, too. But he knew. She had told him everything she was going to do before she disappeared. And she had left him with a kiss, she told him she loved him. She'd found her way back, even when she was not prepared. Helen had been in complete control. She'd only found her way back when she got tired and lonely from her secrets, and even then, it was like she thought he might have been waiting for her to come to that.

"This _is_ real," Auggie said. "The only thing we can't say is the Agency."

"What Agency?" Annie asked. "I met you through the Smithsonian where I worked in acquisitions and now work as an importer/exporter. You roamed into the ladies' bathroom one too many times."

Auggie laughed. "Well, only _one_ of those was a mistake," he said.

Annie parked outside the café, and Auggie climbed out of the car, letting his cane fall open, wondering if they were already here. He met Annie at the front of the car and took her elbow as she headed toward the door.

"Yup," Annie said. "Morag's here. Oh, they look nice. They're grey and adorable."

Auggie puffed a laugh through his nose. "That's good," he said and moved along a half-step behind Annie.

Morag stood to greet them, and Auggie shook hands as she introduced them.

"Annie Walker, Auggie Anderson, this is Mr. And Mrs. Gladstone."

"No, no," said the kind, older male voice. "It's Chet and Rena."

Annie placed Auggie's hand on the back of the chair and after shaking the Gladstones' hands, she sat beside him. He was glad to have her right there, because he couldn't get cues from her if she'd been separated.

There was the obligatory small talk and they ordered some coffee and tea. Annie ordered a soup and salad and Auggie made the decision of the easier task of eating a turkey sandwich.

Then, Rena, who seemed as sweet and small as Auggie could ever imagine, burst out with her question. "So you two are very interested in the little house?" she asked. "What draws you to it, may I ask?"

Annie spoke up first. "It's a surprise. No-one expects it to be there. It has character, and it looks like it was loved. We want that. We've had some rough years and we really want to have some good things happen."

"You want a family?" said Rena.

Auggie felt himself nodding as Annie answered. "We do. We do now. Our priorities have changed. We're both getting older, we need some stability and we want to grow our love into a family."

"I want somewhere safe to teach a kid how to ride a bike," Auggie said. "I want somewhere where they can go outside and look at bugs and not worry about them being snatched off the street. There are trees that they can climb, and woods to walk in and hear in the wind. I've lived in the middle of the metro area for years. It's a great place when you want independence and ease and everything close by. But this is still close to that, and yet, not close at all."

"It was built on an older property," said Chet. "There was an older house there when I was a kid. I always thought of it as the _new_ house."

Annie and Auggie both smiled at his memory.

"You lost your sight in Iraq, is that right?" Rena said kindly.

Auggie nodded. "Yes, Ma'am, I did."

"A shame," she mused. "But you came home."

"That I did," Auggie replied. "I still get a chance."

Chet spoke for Rena. "We lost our boy. He wasn't even a boy anymore, he was a grown man. He was engaged, too. Late bloomer, our Greg. He was enlisted, like you; they sent him to Iraq, too. He was supposed to be married that summer. It's been over fifteen years now. IED took him. He was our only child."

Annie and Auggie both offered their condolences with genuine sadness over their story. Auggie thought of his four brothers and his family. It would have killed them the same had he not come home alive, but at least there were others to carry the family on.

Rena spoke again. "We want this house to continue to have people who love it. Greg loved this house, he was helping us to renovate it over the years so he could have it for his family, but he wouldn't hear of us leaving it. He would want someone who finally found what he found after a lot of hard-knocks, which was a loving relationship and the possibility of a family and a home. And he would be so proud to share it with a brother who fought alongside him and made it home."

Auggie was moved. Obviously Morag had told them a bit of the back story. Instead of his disability being a hindrance to showing his capability of looking after a house and family, it was a sign of honour, a sign of the brotherhood that he shared with their son. He'd only given his sight. Greg had given his life. It was all in the game of straws, who came home and who didn't.

"I didn't know," Auggie said. "But I honour your son's memory."

Annie's hand was wrapped around his, and he realised she'd done that a while back. He squeezed it.

"It's very obvious that you too are in love."

Auggie smiled and then shook his head. "Everyone keeps telling us that."

"It's nice," Rena said. "It's nice to see. Chet still holds my hand, too. If you have that kind of love, you can handle anything together. Even things that might break your soul. If you're together, you will be stronger."

"We're starting to get that," Annie said. "We want to be together holding hands when we are looking back on our lives, too."

"Were you together when he went to Iraq?" Rena asked Annie.

"No," Annie said. "I met him two years after he'd returned home. He handled everything on his own. He did a good job, so he's looking after me, now."

Auggie heard their laughter and he smiled. Annie told him it made her mad that people assumed she'd been with Auggie before and stuck by him despite the accident. She asked what was wrong with falling in love with a blind guy? But the way she spoke now was only love, not adamant reaction, and the older couple across from them took it in kind. Auggie turned back to them, wondering when they would be informed if their bid was accepted, when Annie picked up his hand and placed it in the older woman's hand across the table. Rena flipped her hand and took Annie's placing it in Auggie's and putting hers over theirs both.

"We want you to have it," she said to them. "We accept your offer."

Auggie heard Annie's breath huff out in happy surprise beside him as she turned and hugged his shoulders. He was a bit surprised, he hadn't actually thought it would happen right then. He realised now that they probably hadn't set up meetings with everyone, but already had made a connection to them when Morag told them Auggie had fought and been blinded in Iraq. They wanted to meet the people they were letting take over the story of the house in their son's place.

Auggie stood, followed by Annie. Handshakes and hugs; Auggie thought he hugged Morag, too, at one point. It was almost a small celebration, and everyone was coming away happy, content with how things could happen.

There would be paperwork and signing, and lawyers and bank papers, but the process was happily begun. They would move in May, and the next part would begin. The images Auggie had running in his mind earlier that he tried to control came flooding back, the evenings on the verandah, children in the back yard, a barbecue set up. This time, he let them come. He and Annie drove back to the apartment on a complete high, their plans escaping in waves as they thought about the future.

Just as they were reaching Auggie's place, his phone rang.

"Auggie, I'm glad I caught you. Are you and Annie available tonight?"

Auggie was puzzled. He turned to Annie. "It's Joan," he said, tapping the place on the phone to knock it into speaker mode.

"Joan?" Annie asked, pulling the car into the parking space.

"Hi, Annie. I'm in a bit of a pickle. I forgot that tonight was Arthur's big tadoo at the governor's gala. I've been calling people all day to look after Mack."

"We'll do it," Annie said, turning off the engine.

Auggie's mouth dropped open. He laughed sheepishly. "I guess I have no say in this one, Joan."

"That's probably the way it should be, Auggie," said Joan slyly.

Auggie threw up his hands. "I got nothin'," he said. "You want us there?"

"Which would be easier for you, Auggie?" Joan asked. "We'll at least give you that one."

"Well, it's no secret that my place is _always_ easier for me, but this is about Mack. He'd feel happier in his own place, too."

"Auggie just wants to eat your food," Annie said, and everyone laughed, knowing how hard that ease had been to come by.

"That was why I didn't ask Eric," Joan said, and they chuckled again at Barber's expense.

"We'll need to leave around six. Is that okay?"

"Done deal," Auggie said. "We'll be there with play-clothes on," he said, before disconnecting the line.

He turned to Annie. "We're in for it now," was all he said, before climbing out of the car.


	7. Chapter 7

**Little lighter fare for chapter seven's Saturday night. If they want to have a family some day, they have to take some practise swings.**

**I am not the owner of Covert Affairs or its absolutely wonderful characters. I thank Corman and Ord for creating them and letting me borrow them. I don't thank USA Network for their treatment of them. I shall have bitterness in my heart evermore.**

Chapter Seven

"He's almost two already," Annie said.

"Time flies when you're on the run," Auggie said, without humour, as he followed Annie's guide to the Campbell's door.

The door pulled open before Annie had time to even get to it. Joan was slightly out of breath. Annie was taken aback.

"My zipper's stuck," said Joan. "Can you-?"

Annie pushed her gently back in the house, with Auggie trailing behind. He let go of her arm while she tended to Joan's distress, and stepped over one step to the right, his foot colliding with some sort of something.

"Oh, Auggie, that's just a toy, don't worry about it. The rest is cleared away. I missed that, Mack had it earlier, playing... Thanks, Annie... Arthur?"

Auggie grinned. Joan was flustered. He rarely got to see this side of her, and he was quite sure Annie had never seen it. As usual, he found it comical.

"No-one saw us, just to let you know," Annie said. "I mean, I know it's not..."

"No," Joan said, momentarily sounding like Joan Campbell. "That's good. It's good to keep vigilant. Three covert agents meeting at the former head of the CIA's residence may not look suspicious until it does... _Arthur_? I told you already that tux you had on was the nicest one_. Annie and Auggie are here_!"

Arthur came down the stairs, carrying the baby. "Annie, Auggie, thank God you guys are here. Everything that could go wrong in this house has gone wrong today. We've got twenty-eight minutes, Darling, are we close?"

"Just let me get my shoes and my handbag. Thank goodness at least one of us thought to find someone to look after our child. I still have no idea why you didn't tell me about this sooner."

"I did, but you weren't listening to your husband. If you didn't look so absolutely ravishing in that dress right now, I might be tempted to leave without you," Arthur said, following her out of the room.

Annie and Auggie stood there, slightly agape.

"Wow," Annie said.

Auggie shook his head, confused. "Do they still have the kid?"

"Yeah. Arthur has him."

"Do you think they'll tell us any general rules or are they gonna take Mack and leave without actually talking to us?"

"Well, considering their car is out front, I'm assuming they'll come back this way," Annie said.

Sure enough, moments later, the force that was the Campbells returned to the room and Auggie stepped aside with Annie as they put on their coats, handing off the baby to Annie.

"I wrote everything down; the list is on the counter in the kitchen. His bottle is in the fridge. No juice before bed."

"Come on, Joan, they know how to look after a baby, they looked after five of them in a plane crash off France, Mack will be fine." Arthur patted Auggie's shoulder as he went by him. "Beer in the fridge, Auggie. Help yourself."

"You have my number," Joan called as Arthur pushed her out the door.

Annie shut it behind them, holding Mack in one arm on her hip, and she took Auggie's arm in hers, walking together to the sofa. "Well, I don't think I've seen that before," she said.

Auggie laughed. "I keep telling you, Annie, Joan is not always so stiff. Of course, she's not usually this flustered, either. This one was a good one. Now where's the kid?" Auggie put out his hand to touch the little boy on his shoulder. Annie turned Mackenzie around and sat him on her lap, cuddling him.

"Nope," Annie told Auggie. "Not having any of that. He just slid quite deliberately off my lap to the floor and is heading for that toy you hit earlier. He's pretty fast, Auggie. You're gonna have to watch yourself."

"Then you better keep your eye on him, because I can only watch so much," Auggie said. For a minute he realised he hadn't thought about this age, when children started moving and even the best eyes missed little hands and little bodies being where they shouldn't. None of the kids from the crash were this age. And he had a moment's thought that maybe he wouldn't be able to handle it after all. He heard the kid's hands and knees as he ungracefully crawled over to the right and stopped.

"What's he doing now?" Auggie asked.

"Looking at a pillow."

"Fascinating," Auggie said, hearing the thumping motion of the child again, continuing his journey to the right. Mack stopped and hooted at something and then turned and asked, "Dah?" Then he giggled and the thumping happened again, faster this time.

"What's he doing now?" Auggie asked.

"He's standing over to our right, looking at us."

"Gawh!" Mack said to them. "Gawh? Hnhh!"

Auggie sighed and slid down on to the floor. "Well, the only way to know what he's doing is for me to play with the kid. Where's that toy?"

Annie grinned. "It's right in front of you, about eleven O'clock, maybe four feet."

Auggie located it and explored it with both hands. "A choo-choo train, Mack. Is this yours?"

The little boy thumped his loud little run toward Auggie but stopped.

"Uh-oh," Annie said.

"What?"

"He's just realised his parents aren't here. Wait for it... and three, tw-"

She didn't get any further. With one yelp, Mackenzie went into distress mode and started bawling as Annie moved in to distract him. She picked him up and bounced him, and took the train Auggie held out to her from where he sat on the floor.

"Well, that went well," Auggie said.

"I'm sure he'll be fine by the end of the night," Annie said, sounding dubious.

"Sure, sure. Yeah." Auggie crawled back to the sofa, sweeping his hand out in front of him to keep from hitting the coffee table.

"Why don't you take a look around, and I'll see if I can't locate this list of instructions. She probably has a dossier in a file sitting on the counter in there. Do you know the layout?"

"I've been here a few times," Auggie said.

"I know," Annie said, and he heard her retreating to the kitchen. "Found it!" she called back. "This isn't as detailed as I imagined it would be. I'm kinda disappointed," Annie said, sounding it as she returned. Mack was still snuffling and letting out woeful cries but Auggie could already tell the kid was over it.

"I need something to play with him," Auggie said. "What's here?"

"There's a ball."

"Aw, geez, the day has come that I'm on an even playing field with a toddler playing catch."

"Well, we'll have a bell in ours," Annie said, placing the ball in his hand. "Go on. We'll all play." Annie sat beside Auggie, touching his knee. "Over there, Mack, Auggie's going to roll the ball to you. Can you catch? Perfect! Yup, he's sitting there waiting with his feet open."

"You ready, Mack?" Auggie asked, tipping an ear forward. The little boy made a happy, excited sound, and Auggie rolled the ball toward that.

"Yay!" called Annie. "Almost!"

"Almost _me_, or almost _him_?" Auggie asked.

"No, your aim was perfect. He was a little slow on the catch part. Kind of post-bounce try."

Auggie laughed as Annie reached for the ball. "Throwing isn't his strong suit, either, I take it," he said.

"Kind of an overarm throw at the floor," she described. "The intent was there, the method needs help."

"What do you expect, with Arthur as his father," Auggie reasoned, as Annie passed him the ball again.

They played ball for at least twelve minutes. Then Mack wanted a drink. After the drink, he wanted Auggie to read him one of his stories.

"We'll have to give this to Annie," Auggie said. "Sorry, little man, I can't read your books." Annie took the book and opened it, reading about a bunny that hated wearing slippers. Auggie listened with complete pleasure, taking in the moment.

"Oh, and he's gone. He's lost interest, now he's playing with the train again."

"Well, go on," Auggie said with a smile. "I really need to know if the bunny wears the slippers at the end."

Annie grinned at him, shaking her head, going back to finish the book.

Auggie heard the little guy running toward him, and anticipated possibly being hit with something, intentionally, or unintentionally. Kids just lobbed things at other people, that's how it worked. He put his hands out as if to catch, grab, or thereby break impact of Mackenzie, but the kid veered off right and in a moment there was silence.

"Sofa?" Auggie asked.

"My leg."

Auggie slid over and touched Mackenzie's back.

"He's sucking his thumb. He's getting pooped."

"I'm sure Joan's working on that thumb thing." Auggie got to his feet.

"You wanna go to bed?" Annie asked the little boy.

"Oh, like _that's_ all you have to do," Auggie said, shaking his head, laughing when he heard Mack say _no_ quite distinctly. "Kids _never_ want to go to bed. Now, had you asked _me_ on the other hand... Yeah, I know, you're rolling your eyes at me. I'm just sayin'. It's all in your phrasing."

"And how, pray tell, would you phrase it to this child?"

That child, Auggie heard, had taken off again. "Maybe we should just tire him out until he passes out where he is?"

"Is that good parenting?" Annie asked.

Auggie shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not a parent."

Annie moved quickly toward the kitchen, chasing Mack as he headed toward something or other. Auggie followed the sound as it went, trying to discern if Annie would require help in heading the boy off. No wonder Joan had been so flustered. One little boy with his belly full of food and his toys all around him was way different than five scared children who had no energy to burn.

"Annie?" he called.

"I got him!" Annie replied back from the other room. "Heading for the garbage bin."

These things were the things that worried Auggie. Sure, he could play with a kid, teach him, instruct him, listen to him. But he couldn't keep him from being where he wasn't supposed to be unless he was tethered to Auggie. How could Annie trust that he would be able to keep their kids safe? That they would not fall off the stair landing, that they'd stay out of the garbage, that they wouldn't find a pin or scissors and cause damage to themselves? How could she trust him, since he didn't know if he trusted himself. Had Annie thought of these things? Did it worry her that he wouldn't be able share as much of the load as he should? Would she resent him when she was tired of always being the one to keep watch?

"Do you think he'd fall asleep watching a cartoon or something?" Auggie asked, trying to think of the present.

Annie picked up the remote control and flicked on the TV. She scanned through the channels until she found something that had unreasonably high-pitched voices and very simplistic music.

"Oh, wait, no, honey!" Annie jumped as Auggie felt his cane hit his shins, not hard, but as though the kid had picked it up and was turning with it, hitting things by mistake. Annie pried the cane out of Mack's hands, which started another string of unhappy tears. Auggie stuck out his hand, taking the cane.

"If I'd folded it, he probably would have pinched his fingers," Auggie said. "My nephew did that."

"You have a nephew?"

"I have a big family. It was only natural for a nephew to come along at some point."

"You're going to have to make me a chart, and tell me all about this family, Buster. I don't know anything about any of them."

"Well, my mother's dying to meet you," Auggie said, over Mackenzie's wailing. "I talked to her this week."

"You did? When? When I was away? Mack? Stop squirming, Little Man. Oof."

The little boy wrestled away from Annie but didn't go far, choosing to stand and sob directly out of reach, so they'd get the full effect.

"Yeah," Auggie replied. "I told her about the house. They'd kill me if I didn't. They'll want to come see it. See you. You know."

He felt Annie's palm on his cheek. "It's okay. It's right, Auggie, that they should come. Maybe not all of them at _once_, mind you."

Auggie laughed. "Oh, Gawd, no, I'd never let that happen." He turned back to face the whimpering little boy. "I'm going to watch cartoons, Mackenzie. I'm going to watch this cartoon; do you want to watch with me?"

Mack just took a shuddering breath but stopped crying.

Auggie sat down on the floor. "Can we see the TV? Is the table in the way?"

"No, you have a clear view," Annie said, watching Auggie as he held out his hand towards Mack.

"Are there any purple guys on screen?" Auggie asked the boy. "Do you see purple guys? How about blue guys, are there any blue guys? Come watch with me."

Auggie felt the boy move against his leg, not touching his hand, possibly absorbed in the television screen. After a minute, Mackenzie sat against Auggie's leg. Auggie put his hand on the little boy's warm back. Within five minutes, Mack had moved back and was leaning against Auggie's side. Auggie put his arm around the little boy, brushing the soft hair along the crown of his head. They all sat quietly, separately engrossed in the sounds and the colours and the action from the television.

"He'll be out very shortly," Annie said, leaning forward to check to see if the little boy's eyes were still open.

"We should ask for a pay raise," Auggie replied.

"Oh, come on, you love this," Annie said, bumping his shoulder slightly so as not to disturb the child.

"I do, yeah. But there still should be some danger pay involved."

"We came out pretty unscathed, actually," Annie said. "I expected at least two broken things."

"Was one of those things me?"

Annie leaned up and kissed his cheek. He turned with a grin and leaned down for another, which she responded to, as always. She never left him in mid-air, pursed for a kiss, which was nice. "I had hopes it wouldn't be you," she said. "You've been broken enough recently."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Speaking of which, there's some news on the Belenko front, and I have my team on it. We need to get enough to tie him in, and as usual there's nothing concrete. But the thing is, we need to get to him, safely, with the intel, before Decker gets it into his head to go do it himself. Actually, it's in his head already, which is really worrying."

"What about me?" Annie asked. "Ask Joan to send me in."

"No, Annie, I don't want anyone that is attached to me or Decker involved. Period. Especially you."

"Auggie, you can't keep me from dangerous missions."

"I didn't say anything about keeping you from dangerous missions. I said you won't be involved in _this_ one. And you won't. Besides, Joan has your plate loaded down."

"Will you at least keep me updated?"

"I will give you all the intelligence I can. You know I still can't go above your clearance, though, right?"

Annie sighed. "I know. I wouldn't ask you to do that."

"How's the kid?" Auggie asked, motioning with his head.

Annie leaned forward, checking. "He's out."

Auggie shifted a little, but the little boy didn't rouse.

"I'll take him up," Annie said, standing up and carefully lifting Mack from where he was pressed up against Auggie.

Auggie listened to her soft footsteps pad across the floor. He didn't mind that Annie took Mack up. He wouldn't be so lenient at carrying his own child to bed. He'd know each step, each stair, and whether the sheets were folded down, and he'd carry his own children and read to them like any dad. _Well,_ thought Auggie, _I suppose not like any dad._ He might even be better than just any dad, because he'd _want_ to carry his child to bed and read to them. He pushed himself up onto the sofa and then he leaned forward to the right, reaching out his hand. He brushed against the coffee table and then carefully felt along the top of it for the remote, needing to change the music before it bore into his brain and he was humming it out loud. The remote was generic cable, he thumbed the channel, not knowing what he was flipping to, as long as it wasn't a cartoon voice singing a song.

He soon recognised the voices and sound effects and music coming from the speakers of the stereo, and flicked his thumb over the other side of the remote, turning the volume down. And then he heard Annie coming down the stairs.

"Is that The Lord of the Rings?" Annie asked. "What, you couldn't take the dancing sponges?"

"They were sponges?"

"I have no idea," Annie said. "Is this the first one?"

"Yeah," Auggie said. "Come, sit beside me." He patted the cushion beside him. "It is the first one. Did you watch all these?"

"Somewhere along the way," she said. "Let me guess, you were at the opening night."

Auggie shrugged. "I don't know why you'd think that."

"Did you see them all?"

"Of course, I saw them all, why would I only see part of them?"

"No, I mean, did you _see_ see them?"

"Oh. Yeah... yeah, I _saw_ saw them all. I mean, the first ones. The new ones I only heard. Though I guess I wasn't missing as much, so that's okay."

"Can you still picture them if you watch them?"

Auggie smiled. "Sure. Just like you can remember them. I remember them. Plus, well, I may have watched them more than once."

"You're such a dork."

"But it didn't stop you from loving me."

"I think it's hot," Annie teased him. "Though I'm still not sure how you are a computer dork _and_ a wrestling Special Forces hottie. It just doesn't seem fair that you are good at everything."

"I think I've had some upset there," Auggie said. "I've given back to even things out."

"Oh. Right. I forgot," Annie said.

"You forgot?"

"Oops. I did. I guess there are a few things that you're not so hot at. You're probably a really bad driver. And I wouldn't trust you with a bow and arrow."

The smile spread over Auggie's face, he could feel it happen and he couldn't prevent it. That's what it was like to be with her; he smiled a lot when she was around. There had been a horrible long stretch where neither one of them could smile, and Auggie usually shook his thoughts out when he dwelled on it too much, but her ease at making him smile, he never wanted to lose those memories or that feeling, ever again.

"Will it be weird for Joan and Arthur to come home to you and me sitting here all cuddled up on their sofa?" Annie asked.

"I hope so," Auggie said, hearing her laugh.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Disclaimer: I do not own nor make money off of Covert Affairs and its characters.**

**The Reclaimer: I will never give up on Walkerson or Covert Affairs.**

**The Exclaimer: I LOVE AUGGIE ANDERSON!**

**The Proclaimer: I WILL LOVE AUGGIE ANDERSON FOR THE REST OF MY DAYS!**

**I dedicate this chapter to Sahar Anderson for her awesome new Walkerson video that churned around the idea pot, and I throw my hat and sword down to my friend Emeraldeyedphoenix for always being there for idea bouncing and inspiration and Auggiepics. This story idea was worked out betwixt us two.**

Chapter Eight

Auggie woke up, feeling the heat of the sun already warming the bed. He felt Annie curled up close to him, her hair draped over his shoulder. He didn't want to move, didn't want to disturb her. He let his mind drift back to their previous night, mingling his thoughts with ones of the house.

"Morning," Annie said, sleepy-voiced.

"Morning," replied, closing his eyes, smiling. He rolled toward her. "Sleep well?"

"Out like a light," she said. "You?"

"Same. Babysitting apparently kills us. How will we do it all the time?"

Annie smiled. He could hear it. Anyone else would laugh and say he was ridiculous, but she knew he could hear her smile. There was something about that, Auggie thought to himself. It was the same as how he always could pick up when she was near him.

"We can do it. Hey, if _Joan_ and _Arthur_ can do it... They aren't exactly dripping with mummy and daddy vibes. I think we'll muddle through."

He felt her touch his hair by his temple, brushing her fingers through it. He tipped his head.

"Auggie?"

"Yeah," he said.

Her fingers continued to twist through his hair. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Uh oh," Auggie said. He felt his insides somehow leap inside him. "What's happening?" He sat up, instantly on alert. This felt similar to another morning that he didn't want to think about.

"I... don't want you to be mad at me. I wanted to tell you. I... the timing never seemed right. And... you trust me... and I don't want to break that."

"Annie? Just tell me." He kept his voice calm. No need to overreact until she said what was bothering her. It might not be anything. It might not be anything.

He felt her fingers intertwine between his. He squeezed her hand, giving her his okay.

She was silent, gathering her courage. Auggie had a desperate worry growing in the pit of his stomach. He reached his other hand out and she took it.

"You remember... that night you went to Helen's?"

Auggie turned his head away. He still felt the guilt over that. It hadn't been supposed to happen. He thought that text message could have been from Annie. He'd been waiting to hear from her, she was here, she was home, and she didn't contact him. All he'd been able to think about was her. And then the text message sent his hopes up, and the crash he'd felt that it wasn't Annie, it wasn't Annie meeting him to take him home, had messed up his priorities, his emotions, and his scruples. He regretted that it had ever happened sometime before morning. He'd regretted it since. He knew Annie had been hurt when she'd discovered it.

"I was outside your place that night," she said softly, her face still raised, looking at him.

He felt his heart skip. "What?"

"I followed you. I was going to come up, and I was trying to work up the nerve to... and I couldn't. And then you left the building and I followed you."

"Annie," Auggie said, wanting to straighten her facts out, shaking his head. "You couldn't have been there, Annie."

"I was. I followed you to the bus and... I got on. I don't know why. I don't know why I did it. I needed to be near you, but I didn't know what to say. I wanted to come back to you and I was scared. I almost talked to you. I sat by you."

Auggie was shaking his head, in denial. "No, Annie, you couldn't have been there."

Her hands held his even tighter, as if to hold them there, to keep him connected to her as she told him something that would make him pull away.

"I was there. I'm so sorry, Auggie. I wanted to... I wanted to say something and I couldn't. It wouldn't come."

Auggie pulled his hands away, and ran them over his face. She'd been there, beside him, right there beside him... He wouldn't have gone to Helen if she had spoken. He wouldn't carry the guilt of his actions. She'd been there, and she didn't let him know.

A realisation hit him.

She had taken advantage of his blindness. She had taken that trust, the belief he had in her that she would never take advantage of it for her own needs, and she broke it, and she'd never let him know. He felt like the floor had dropped. He tried to make his mouth form some kind of response, but nothing happened. Nothing was forming that would ever explain, never convey that feeling he was experiencing. She'd never taken advantage of his disability before.

Or had she?

Were there other times, times when she didn't tell him she was there?

Were there things she'd kept hidden, only able to do so because he couldn't see?

He knew he'd missed the feelings on her face, her unspoken thoughts. He knew she'd only kept them hidden because she didn't think he felt the same. But this, this was something different. She'd been gone, he'd missed her so much, he'd needed her to come home to him, and for this to be over, for everything to be steady. For them to be together. To work things out. Like people that loved each other did. And she'd been there, she had seen him, she could have reached out and... Auggie's mind whirled. If he had've just reached out, he would have found her. He would have touched her. She would have had to let him know then.

"Auggie? Auggie?" Annie clutched at Auggie's face, her hands framing his cheeks, pulling him back to face her. "Just... I wanted to talk to you so much. And then... I couldn't... and I was trying to get up the courage to just touch you, Auggie. I knew if I touched you, you'd know."

He could hear the tears in her voice. He felt his own lip trembling.

"Why didn't you? Why?" He couldn't believe what she was telling him. "What else did you do behind my back... or in front of my face, as it were?" He was starting to feel anger inside. He roughly wiped at his eye with his arm, breaking her contact with him.

"Annie... you can't do this... not now. Why, why are you doing this?"

"Auggie, I have to tell you. I can't keep it secret anymore. I can't... I don't want secrets. I don't want secrets with you ever again. Please, Auggie."

He felt her hand clutch at him as he slid off the bed, but he brushed her off. He needed space to breathe, to try and understand.

She could have touched him. He would have never let her go again. He would have never gone home with Helen. He would never have had that hanging between them in Hong Kong. They could have just picked up and tried to figure it out from there, instead of all those _mistakes_. She'd made the decision on her own. She had involved him without him even knowing it.

He thought back to one time, after that, when Annie had been back in DC, and she'd shown up at his apartment. He had almost made it inside before she had spoken. At the time, he'd been surprised that she'd waited that long, and that he'd not felt her standing there watching him approach. He'd chalked it up to his new idea that he couldn't sense her anymore because she had lost herself and was invisible to everyone including herself. He hadn't thought she was trying to use it to her advantage against him. He hadn't _wanted_ to think that. But now... how many other times? How many times did she hide in plain sight from him?

He threw on a T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants and went down the steps from the bedroom. He didn't know what he needed to do, so he figured making himself some coffee was probably the only thing he could do properly at this moment, when his thoughts were so tangled in disarray.

"Auggie," she was following him, stopping to throw on something, too. "Auggie, please, don't walk away from me. I'm telling you this because I want no secrets."

"Secrets?" Auggie snapped. "You're the master of secrets, Annie."

"Auggie," Annie said, sounding defeated.

"No, Annie. You can't just all of a sudden tell me that this whole... _thing_, that you never would use this against me," he gestured toward his eyes, "and here it is, you did. You did." He shrugged and shook his head in disbelief.

"It was the only time," she whispered. "It was the only time, and I knew it was wrong, and I couldn't stop. I was so scared, Auggie. You looked okay. You looked healthy and safe and... I didn't want to hurt you anymore. I wanted you to move on, and be okay. If the bus had gone a little longer... I might have gotten the courage worked up. I was trying. And then, you got off. I was going to follow you. I had the intention of talking to you, Auggie, it was why I was there. And you got off, and Helen was there. And you looked happy to see her. I thought you were already lost to me. All because I was so scared to talk to you. So scared you would turn me away."

"Like at the door that time. When you came home." Auggie heard her crying, trying to hold her tears back. "You said that was your most terrifying moment." He tried to calm his thoughts, so that he could hear her. People who loved each other worked it out. It's what they did.

"That time... I was a bit stronger. I couldn't do that to you again. I knew it was unfair of me. I'd never done that before, Auggie, so help me. And... after it happened... I couldn't ever do it again. It ate at me. It still is."

He heard her move around the island to him, tentatively putting her hand on his forearm. "It's why I'm telling you now. I wouldn't risk losing your trust, Auggie, not if it didn't bother me so much. I'd have let it go, never told you. But I couldn't. I can't."

He turned to her. He couldn't ask her anymore reasoning. She gave her reasons. They hurt, but they made sense to him, as much as he loathed admitting it to himself. It still didn't take the sting away that she had used his blindness against him. He hadn't expected it of her. Not now, not in the past. But would it be a thought he'd think in the future after this? Had this been irrevocable damage to that intimate trust that he'd shared with only her? She'd been the only one to get behind that door with him, and he felt betrayed.

"Please, Auggie, don't stay mad. Please... let's talk... let's-"

Auggie shook her arm off. "I just need time with this, Annie. Just give me time." He gave up on the idea of coffee and headed up to get dressed. He needed to walk his anger out, and he figured he'd get a coffee at the vender on the street as he went.

He stopped at the closet, pulling on a jacket and his shoes. He grabbed his bag , his phone, his cane, and his keys.

"Auggie," she tried again.

"Annie." He held his hand up. "Just... give me some space. I'll talk to you later."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Coffee in one hand, his cane tapping methodically in his other, Auggie let the thoughts tumble in progression. First, his anger made everything her fault. He progressed through to deciding whether this broke the deal. He had a fraction of a thought about telling her it did. That he couldn't trust her eyes again, because she had lied to him that day. He worked through that, too. She hadn't lied. She was working herself through whatever war-hell she was going through, and she was coming to reach out to him. The fact that she got that far... and then he'd gotten up and left to meet Helen... He knew what she was like after that, when she did come home for good. And yet, Annie had kept trying. She had kept coming back, even when she couldn't say the words to him. He wondered if Annie had, as she sat beside him on that city bus, hoped he'd know she was there, so she wouldn't have to make the move herself. She was too scared to make the first move, and he was too blind to know to do it for her.

He continued across the street as the alert beeped, knowing where he was but not where he was headed. He just needed to walk. People rarely bumped into Auggie when he walked the sidewalks, because he walked with such determination and intention. They saw him coming and steered out of his way, which was the way he preferred it, having experienced people jostling and running into him all the time when he hadn't been as proficient with his mobility.

What he didn't want to let himself think about was something he had forgotten, something he had put out of his head as soon as he had heard Helen call his name when he disembarked the bus. He didn't want to think of it because had he gone with his hunches then, this might not have happened. He'd written it off as purely a blind man's fanciful imagination, but he remembered the feeling now as he did then... that there had been someone there. He'd sensed something... and yet, he'd kept himself quiet, chiding himself for even wanting to ask... How do you ask? _Excuse me, who are you? Hi, is someone sitting here now?_ _ Pardon me, you kind of give off a warm fuzzy aura, and I wanted to ask you if you're my girlfriend? _He had no way of knowing, and yet, he'd known. He'd known, and he'd blown it. They both had blown it. And everything got lost from there. By then, Annie was Jessica Matthews, and Auggie had a gravestone with Annie's name on it to visit.

Auggie slowed his walk. The Sunday morning crowd was getting active, he could hear a lot of traffic picking up, and people's voices as they began to enjoy the spring weather around them. He turned his head, listening for the air exchange unit that was on one of these buildings near the end of this block. If he crossed at the end of this street, he could stop in at his second favourite place to order breakfast. He wasn't ready to go back and face her.

He wasn't ready to go back and bare another wound to her.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie slid the door open, listening, a dreadful feeling hanging over him. He had thought, as he climbed the stairs to the loft apartment, that he might go in and find her not there. She had every right to storm out on him for not giving her the benefit of hearing her words and letting her tell them.

He tilted his head, angling to pick up any sound that would tell him she was there.

"Annie?"

Her voice came from a corner of the living room. He turned to her, chewing on his lip. "I'm glad you're here," he said, folding his cane, putting everything in its place. He moved around the credenza and toward where Annie sat. She touched his hand, guiding him down beside her, where he perched on the edge of the chair, his elbows on his knees, his hands laced together. She waited for him to speak.

"I wish it had been different," he said in a low voice. "I wish all that had have been different. It was a bad time, Annie, for both of us. It was supposed to be a good time, and it all went so wrong."

He felt Annie's hand on his back, lightly, her fingers barely perceptible as they moved up and down.

"I understand why... it happened. I wish you had been able to say something to me that night, Annie; I'm always going to regret all of that. But, it happened. We're here now, and I'd rather be here than back there."

"Me, too," she said in a small voice.

He took a deep breath and let it out. He sat there for a minute, but then he turned his body toward her and slid his fingers over, placing his hand on her thigh. It helped, in some weird way, just to have some kind of contact with the people he talked to. Even just one hand, resting on one knee.

"Annie. The part about this that I'm having the hardest time with, is the part where you deceived me. You deceived me right to my own face, you took advantage of me not being able to see. You never have done that, Annie. But now, you tell me you have. And I'll never know if it was the only time."

"It was."

"I have to trust you on that," Auggie said, shaking his head, feeling Annie's hand clasp around his. "And that's where I'm leading to... Annie, trust is huge for me."

"I know, Auggie-"

"No, just listen. Not the kind of trust like... I trust my friends not to stab me in the back. This kind of trust is different. This kind of trust is a kind I hate to talk about."

"You can always talk to me," she said, her other hand reaching up and touching his cheek.

He turned his hand up and wrapped it tightly over hers. "Annie..." This was hard. "I can't ever know some things. I can't ever check and see if what people are telling me is true. People could be lying to me all the time, and I wouldn't know. Or it would take me a hell of a time to figure it out." He fought to keep from dropping his head, fought to keep looking at her. He needed her to see how much this hurt him.

"It took me a long time to trust _anyone_ after this happened. And, gradually, I trusted some people, little by little. I had to tell some people that their white lies didn't help me. But white lies, and what you did aren't the same."

"I know," she whispered.

"Annie, I trusted you. With my life. I have to trust you with a million things that I can't do, things that I need honest answers for. I need your eyes, Annie, and if I can't trust them..." He shook his head, the words failing to leave his throat. "Annie, it's like you ripped a carpet out from under me," he finally stated.

Her hand clutched his, bringing it up to her wet cheek. He felt her chin trembling under his thumb. "I'm sorry, Auggie. I'm so sorry." She took several minutes before she could speak again. "It was the only time; I promise that's the truth. It was a bad time, like you said. I was so scared. I did the wrong thing, Auggie. But I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already had. I know I hurt you so much by that point, I thought..." she sobbed and took a breath, "you'd be better off leaving me in that grave. I never thought we'd get a chance to be here... talking... telling truths. I felt so numb about the whole thing. I was wrong, Auggie. I can't forgive myself for it. I know, Auggie, I _know_ this is big. I _know_ I let you down so much, but I promise you, I have never done that before. Nor since. I've always come clean to you. All those times you called it on knowing what I was doing before I did, and I knew I couldn't ever lie to you. And then, I couldn't... I couldn't _not_. I won't ever do that again. I would never." She sniffed, trying to sound hopeful. "Remember all those times when we were away, I never lied about anything."

"I know," he said, his voice a little choked. "I know, Annie. But one time that you do that, it puts every other time in jeopardy. I need to trust you. I need to know that when you tell me it's safe to take a step, I can take that step."

"It is," she whispered, her hands limp in his. She was quiet.

"I need to trust you never to mislead me because I can't see," Auggie said to her, softly.

"You can," she said. "I won't ever do it again, Auggie. I love you and you needed to know. It's been eating away at me, and I needed to come clean with you. It's because I love you so much."

"I know," Auggie said. "I realised that there's nothing we can do to go back there, and I've got too much trust invested in you already to just revoke it and give up. But I had to talk about this... I needed to tell you... because it's important. It's something that you have to accept about a relationship with me."

"I do."

"I know you do."

"Can you forgive me?"

"Annie, I already have. I forgave you halfway down the street. But I needed to work it out. I was angry. I get angry. But I try to work it out instead of just going all bat-shit-crazy if I can now. I've gotten hauled off to jail a few times too many." He laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "The thing is, this time we did what we're supposed to do. We talked it out. We came back together and talked it out. We can work through this."

He felt her nodding her head. "Yeah," she gasped. "I love you, Auggie."

He pulled her into a hug, feeling the warmth of her wrap around him. "We're going to be okay," he said. "I'm glad you told me. Not _what_ you told me, but I'm glad you were honest. We're going to be okay, and we're going to be moving into our own home soon, right? And we'll have lots of time for talking. Probably shouting, too, but I'm in this for the long haul, Darlin'."

He felt her chuckle through her tears. "I was scared you were going to come back late and tell me to leave."

"After all we've been through, Walker? You've got to be joking." He gave her a cheeky grin and tipped his forehead down to hers, bringing his hands up her arms, her shoulders, to the back of her neck. "You're not going anywhere. Not without me, anyway."

"Good," she said. "Because I don't want to, ever again."

He grinned. "I guess we're settled on that, then." He pulled her in to kiss her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and seemed to melt into him.

"Wanna go start the day again right?" Annie asked with a slight tease to her voice. Auggie stood and pulled her to her feet.

"Thought you'd never ask," he said, sliding his hands down her sides, and pulling the T-shirt she wore up over her head in one fluid move, kissing her whenever he could.

As he led her to the steps to the bed, she giggled. "You're really getting good at that," she said.

"Yeah, but it's still not quite right, so I'm just gonna keep trying until it's perfected," he said, grinning at her as he pulled her onto the bed.

"I do admire your tenacity," Annie said, laughing out loud as he ran a finger along her hip bone.

Auggie knew he couldn't have ever kicked her out, in the end. He knew what he had with Annie. There was no-one else for him, and they'd worked way too hard to ever give up on the relationship again. And they were still talking. Auggie knew that no matter how hard, they would never stop talking.


	9. Chapter 9

**I make no money from this chapter posting, because I do not own the rights of Covert Affairs.**

**If I win the lottery, I will buy the rights and I will get an apartment in Toronto and I will hire the cast and crew of Covert Affairs and they will be on our screens again. I promise.**

Chapter Nine

Auggie was pulling crew-neck long-sleeved shirt over his head when he heard her say his name groggily.

"I'm here, I'm going in. Barber just called me. Stay in bed, it's still early."

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"It's just five now. Stay there." Auggie crept to Annie's side of the bed, feeling for her shape under the blankets. He sat down to pull on the socks and shoes in his hand and then he moved his hand along up her back to her neck, finding her lying on her stomach. He leaned down, his hand brushing her hair away before he kissed the back of her neck.

"What's going on?" she asked, sleepy-voiced, after a moment of enjoying his attention.

"Just a big ta-do about an operative stuck in a church basement in Ukraine," Auggie whispered. "Nothing I can't handle." She'd turned over and leaned up to kiss him. "I'll see you in there," he said. "Bring me a coffee and a cruller." He kissed her once more and headed down the steps. He almost could sneak out on her when he had to come in early, but he hadn't been successful yet. It made him grin. She was too alert for all sounds. She had the great skills of a mother in the making. Auggie had one point in his favour: he never woke her up with light. He figured he'd eventually be such a subconscious sound that fell in her comfort zone, she'd stop hearing him, too. He hated to wake her when he had to stay late or come in, and yet, he himself wouldn't let himself sleep if he knew she was coming home or leaving.

The car was waiting for him when he got to the sidewalk, and he was glad, because it was raining and he didn't feel like being damp all morning. He checked in with Joan on the way to Langley and listened to his messages, and then he sat in silence, thinking his own thoughts.

The morning was fast, interesting, only slightly dangerous, and successful. By eleven, Auggie's operative was safe in a chopper crossing into Odessa to be extracted across the border in Moldova.

Annie hadn't appeared with his coffee, and he wondered about her morning. Joan had her down in Archives translating a document that had been previously thought to be junk intel, that much Auggie knew. He hoped she was not hunched over a table since she'd arrived or he'd be in for a good forty-five minutes at least, rubbing the kinks out of her shoulders.

"Yo, Auggie. I'm gonna go out and get some lunch, you want anything?" Barber asked from the doorway.

Auggie felt his watch. "No. Thanks, Barber. I'm going to go find Annie."

"Uh, she left."

"She left?" Auggie glanced toward his friend. "When?"

"About an hour ago. I saw her leave." Barber sounded slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh. Okay." Auggie sat back. Usually Annie stopped in before heading out for a mission. He hated that she wasn't in his ear anymore; he hated not collaborating with her in the field. But it was only right that they didn't work together like that anymore. He was too involved with her to be rational about any given situation, and they both knew that was a liability. He trusted Joan with Annie, but it didn't make him miss her any less as he worked.

Later, as Auggie tried to decide whether he was hungry enough to eat at the cafeteria, there was a knock on his door.

"Auggie?" said Joan, thereby letting him know who it was.

"Hey, Joan, what's up?"

"Do you have any news about the Cuban guns?"

"Belenko's? Yeah. We've tracked them back to him. There's a trace to Chechnya. I think he's using an old address of his previous collaborator, who, by coincidence, is also dead. It's funny how that seems to happen with him."

"And where do you think he is? In Chechnya?"

Auggie shook his head. "No. I think he is here, or close by. Biding his time."

"Cuba?"

"No, it's being watched too closely right now. He would only have his contacts there, and as it is, there's probably minimal contact."

"Mexico? Or in the States?"

"That's what I'm trying to work out right now. Last sighting was in Belize. We lost him before we got anyone close enough."

Joan was quiet for a moment. "You should be careful," she said finally.

"I always am," he said, but then silence that followed made him smile at her warmly. "I know, Joan. But we're going to find him." He didn't have to hear her say it, but he knew she'd feared for Auggie when he'd been kidnapped, just as she'd feared for him in Eritrea and Iraq. He sighed. "I'll take extra precautions," he assured her.

"What about James?"

"I have him reeled in," Auggie said. "He's working on the Atlanta case right now."

"Good. Keep an eye on him, will you?"

"I will keep two proverbial eyes on him, Joan." He winked at her for good measure. He didn't want Joan to see the worry that he kept inside about whether he could stop Decker if the man got it in his head. Each one of those men in that unit had the fire in them to go as far as they could to get the job done.

"You're not really making me feel better, Auggie," she said. "Will you take precautions?"

"Yes, Joan. I will take precautions. Now, can you tell me where Annie is?"

"I sent Annie to Arlington. She'll be back before you leave, don't worry."

"I wasn't worried, Joan, I was merely curious." He tried to school his features into a somewhat blank slate of emotion.

"Of course," she said, looking at him before she sidled back out the door. "Oh, Auggie," she said, turning around. "The paperwork has all come through regarding the house. You're both covered as for your employers and the mortgage and the down payment. You and Annie will need to sign it with your bank, but it's all taken care of."

"Thank goodness our jobs at the Smithsonian didn't let us down," Auggie said. "I can't wait until this all goes through. I'm so tired of talking to the realtor and the bank. I just want this to be done with. And so do the sellers."

"You'll have it soon enough," Joan said. "And then you'll be complaining about the pipes under the sink leaking and needing your lawn mowed."

Auggie grinned. "I can't wait," he said.

He missed the smile that crossed Joan's face before she headed out the glass doors.

Auggie turned back to his keyboard. He started to shut the computer down as he heard the door open again.

"Eric?" he asked.

"No, Brother, it's me."

Auggie smiled. "Hey, Decker. Where've you been?"

"Joan had me looking through friggin' parking ticket records," James replied.

Auggie grinned, reaching for his laser cane and putting it in his drawer, taking out his white cane. "Such is the exciting life of a spy," he said. "How about I take you to lunch? Make up your week of tedium? Although, I hear Atlanta was a highlight."

He heard a sound resembling disappointment and he chuckled, slinging his messenger bag over his head.

"You pick," Auggie said, putting out his hand. James had a particular manner of backing himself into Auggie's hand to bump his own elbow against Auggie's fingers, so Auggie learned to wait for it.

"Jeez, man, I could go for tacos in the street right now, I'm so famished."

Auggie shrugged. "Whatever you want, Man," he told James, letting his cane drop open.

He needed to get James to keep him informed. He knew that his friend was keeping his eyes and ears to the ground for all and any intelligence in regards to Belenko. James was still wanting to protect Auggie, to keep him in the dark, and he was still not sure that Auggie could even help with anything other than tech support anymore.

When they made it outside the building, James stopped for a moment.

"What?" Auggie asked.

"Where do they park the taco truck here? Or is it a vendor? I don't know where I'm going, Auggie, man."

Auggie grinned. "That's okay. I do," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Damn straight. Have I ever led you off yet?"

"No, man. You never have."

Auggie nodded. "All right, then," he said, giving his friend's arm a gentle tug. "We go left." They started walking. "We head to the end of this block and we cross one street straight through, and then at the end of the second block, we turn left. And there, my friend, we find the best taco truck anyone has set up in D.C."

"How'd you come across that?" James asked him.

"Followed my nose," Auggie replied. He waited a beat. "You're rolling your eyes at me, aren't you? Well, you may scoff at my wit, but I assure you, if it's the scent of tacos in the street, you have a tracker dog at your elbow, Brother."

At the crosswalk, Decker pushed the button for the signal and they waited for a moment.

"How the hell do you do this, Auggie?" Decker asked as they reached the opposite side. "I don't know how you do this."

"It took time," he told Decker. "Believe me, it was the scariest thing in the world. Busiest intersection in town, they trained me there. Thought I was going to be hit, clipped, knocked-down, and flattened." He sighed. "It took a lot of time."

"You're tougher than I could be," James mumbled.

"Ah, Decker, you'd be surprised. I mean, you've been through shit that you worked through. Stuff that I think I couldn't handle. We all just deal with what we get the best we can. Some people just work harder to keep afloat," he said.

James was quiet as they continued through the pedestrians enjoying the break in the morning's rain. Auggie let him have his thoughts. He was trying to work out how to keep Decker from being bullheaded, and he needed to get to know the man all over again.

"Was it worth it?" Decker finally asked.

Auggie shook his head. "I don't know how you mean, Man. Was it worth it how? In terms of the battle, I never saved my men, Decker. I got what we went for, but I lost way more in my own life. In the bigger picture, we stopped someone that needed to be stopped. We succeeded. How do you decide if that was right or wrong? You don't. I did my job. I had to move on, no matter what."

"What if you could go back?"

"No, James. You don't go back. There are no _what ifs_. There is _what is_. You start from there, and you go forward."

They were at the corner and Auggie laughed, "Ah, now, ya smell that? Ya can't miss it, right?"

James grinned. "Shit, you're right, Man."

"What'd I tell ya," Auggie boasted.

They made their way through the line to the front, where a man greeted Auggie.

"Hey, P," said Auggie, holding out his hand. "We've come for the best tacos in town."

"You got it, Auggie," said the other man, slapping his hand against Auggie's and giving it a good shake. "How you been, man, haven't seen you for a while."

Auggie shrugged. "I went on a pre-wedding honeymoon," he said.

"Hey, that's fantastic, congratulations."

He worked on their lunches and then wrapped everything up in paper, putting it into a paper bag, which Decker took while Auggie paid. He broke a twenty and folded the paper change the usual way before putting it into his wallet. He knew James was watching the whole process and he was glad. Let Decker see how Auggie managed quite well, let him know it wasn't the end of the world and that he was a capable man and co-worker, those were Auggie's objectives.

The moved along the path in the green space nearby, and then James stopped.

"There's a bench in front of us, Auggie," he said.

"Oh, great." Auggie stepped forward, his cane making contact, and he sat down, folding it up.

James sat beside him, carefully taking the contents from the bag and handing Auggie's food to him.

"We can get a coffee on the way back," Auggie said, making a plate out of the paper wrapper on his lap.

After a minute, James spoke. "You need anything?"

"Uh, are there any napkins here?"

He heard the paper bag crinkle and then James said, "Here."

Auggie put out his hand. _Here_ was potentially in front of him. He felt the napkin against his fingers. "Thanks."

"I just can't... get past how hard this must be for you," James said. "I mean, still."

"It's been over seven years, Man. I'm used to it."

"But... it doesn't change things."

"Nope. It just means _I_ have to change things. And I do, all the time."

"Would you do all of it over again? Would you join the Company if you'd known?"

"What, all the lives I've helped to save? The excitement, the thrill, the meaning of making things safer? Yes. I'd do it all over again, James. Shit happened along the way. It does, to everyone. We deal with it and then we learn. We become more. I'm a better person now, I'm more than I was in those days in a lot of ways. And you know what else? I would never trade any of it because I'm the happiest I've ever been in my whole life. All of it. I finally got the girl. And what a girl, I know you've eyed her up and down, you can't tell me you're not a little jealous."

"Aw, man, I'll give ya that," his friend said, and Auggie heard the smile in James's voice.

"We got a house," Auggie said.

"You got a house?" echoed James.

"We sure did. Down payment, mortgage, the whole nine yards. Legit homeowner now. White picket fence and all. Well, I don't know if it's white. I don't even know if it's a picket fence. But there's fence."

"You guys are really doing the whole thing."

"The whole thing," Auggie said. "It's... it's what I've wanted for a long time. And I couldn't be happier. So, yes, if I would to this over again to be where I am right now, damn straight I would."

"I admire you, Auggie. I wish I could say the same."

"It'll be okay," Auggie told him. "You just have to settle in. You've been running for a long time. You don't need to look over your shoulder anymore."

"Yeah, so you say, Auggie. But you and I both know that's not true."

Auggie crumpled up the paper in his hand. He took the napkin and wiped his mouth, never sure how much of a mess he was making, always taking precautions against wandering about with food on his chin. He turned to Decker.

"What have you learned?" he asked in a low voice.

He heard James crumple up the bag and paper, his voice quiet. "Well, we know Cuba is just a red herring."

Auggie rolled his eyes. "Nice," he said, acknowledging the double entendre. "He's moving the guns back and forth," he said. "He's fortifying the Russians. Do we know where the guns are coming out of the States?"

"Biker gangs, mafia, he's not picky."

Auggie sighed. "I'll get someone into one of the clubs down there," he said.

"Come on, Man, you know I know this better than anyone," James pleaded.

"No, Brother. You're too close. I've told you that, I've told Annie that. I'm not risking either one of you. Belenko knows you both. He's gonna track us all down, I know this, I'm not naive. I don't want to put you directly into his path. I'm _not_ going to. I need you to keep close." He scrambled his hand through his hair and then brought his palm down his face, pressing the heel of it into the corner of his eye. He tasted the words in his mouth before he spoke them. "I need you to keep watch here. Because I can't. The last time... I had a bodyguard that Annie and McQuaid set up, and he still got to me. I don't want him getting Annie. I don't want him getting to any of us. So I need you here, Brother." He set his gaze toward his old teammate and friend. "Can I ask this of you?" Auggie chewed his lip, never liking to need anyone. _Anyone but Annie_, he thought to himself, knowing he'd come a long way since he'd met her.

Decker reached out and clasped Auggie's shoulder. "Anything you need, Auggie," he said.

"I know you want to go find him, Decker. I know, because I feel the same. But I told you about revenge. It doesn't cut it. Belenko's getting himself a big title now, since this whole Ukraine thing blew up. He's moved in as one of the backers and is supplying half the Russian army. He's still moving guns through Chechnya, but he's on to bigger things."

"Damn it, Auggie, you should have let me take him when we had him. I would have taken the fall, just to get him erased. I can't do anything, I'm pinned down, and the goddam suits at Langley keep their suspicions about me. I never turned. I _never_ turned."

"I know that, Man," Auggie assured them. "We know that."

"And now, I'm scared, Auggie, because he took you already. He wanted to lure me, and that would do it this time. He'd have us both. I'll be damned if he takes you again. It scares me shitless that you can't see, Auggie. So yeah, I'll stick close, because I owe you at least one more."

"I'll be _fine_," Auggie said. "Annie and I are taking precautions."

He heard Decker take a deep breath and let it out. He had made his decision, thought Auggie to himself. He would not leave his post. As much as Auggie hated to give him the reason why he needed James, he was glad he _had_ a reason to keep Decker out of trouble. It seemed a noble and honest enough reason, and he knew Decker would hold to it.

"But thank you," Auggie said, patting his friend's arm. He knew he didn't have to say any more.

He popped open the crystal on his watch, feeling the time under his fingers. "I guess we should go back. I don't dare leave Barber there too long unsupervised. I'll never get the Chee-tos stains out of the furniture." He stood, opening his cane. "Is there a trash bin around here?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's at the end of the bench there, beside you, do you want me to-?"

"Nope, got it," Auggie said, finding it easily, and turned as Decker came close to toss his trash. "You know, there may be one tiny teeny little small other favour I might ask you soon."

"Just tell me," James said, hearing the obvious less-than-serious tone in Auggie's voice, putting his elbow into Auggie's path.

"You're a big strong guy..." Auggie said with a grin breaking across his face.

"I'm carrying a bed, aren't I?" Decker sighed.

Auggie pursed his lips together, cocking his head. "I guarantee there will be alcohol and a very pretty woman for company and you can see what sort of adventure I'm taking on next. Might be my scariest one yet."

"You're gonna do fine," Decker said. "You're gonna have a great family. You're gonna be a great Dad."

Auggie smiled faintly. "I hope so," he said.

"Aw, you kidding me, Man? After everything I see you do? Not gonna surprise me when you show that kid how to wrestle and hack into iTunes before he's five. You're gonna be a great father." He turned back to their main route.

"Well, I guess I'll wait to doubt myself at least until it happens," Auggie said.

"Doubting is what every new father does, I've seen it," Decker said. "You aren't different there, Brother."

Auggie just chuckled. It was funny how a full stomach, a trusted friend, and the prospect of a new adventure changed how he felt as they returned. The old adage of the weight off his shoulders was overused, but in this instance, Auggie knew it was appropriate.

"Woah, woah, Decker, hold up. Coffee," he said, a sly grin on his face.

"Damn, Auggie," said James, seeing the coffee truck around the corner as they came to the crosswalk.

"Aw, if it makes you feel better, you can buy," Auggie said, laughing, as they turned down the street.


	10. Chapter 10

**To my wonderful reviewers, thank you so much, for giving me feedback; it's kind of like a payment for the time and effort of creating stories for free. It gives writers, like a wage, the incentive to keep on trying our best for you. I love to hear from anyone who reads my stories.**

**When I say **_**my**_** stories, obviously I don't mean I'm making profit off of them, other than reviews, because I don't own the characters or Covert Affairs. If any of you do, please see me after the show.**

Chapter Ten

"Annie!" Auggie called out as he entered the loft. He'd worked late and he knew Annie had punched out much earlier. They'd spent every night this week packing boxes with Auggie's things in preparation, and while Auggie absolutely hated the prospect of the upheaval of the move, Annie's help and positivity kept him looking forward.

"I'm down here," he heard her muffled voice down by the island. "I'm sorting."

Auggie smiled, shaking his head, and putting his things on the credenza. "You really could have waited. I don't want you having to do everything."

"No," she said. "I like to. It makes me think of the good things that are going to happen." She stood up, meeting his embrace. "I'm getting excited."

"Well, you should." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tag with keys on it, holding it up to her with a grin.

He felt Annie reach up and touch them, as if to make sure they were real. "We have keys," she said softly.

"We have keys," he said, grinning.

"We have a house," Annie smiled.

"All ours," Auggie said.

"Wow." Annie slid her hand down his arm and took his hand, and they walked over to the other side of the island and sat on the stools. "This is big, Auggie."

"I know it is. A house. We're like real grown-ups now."

She giggled. "I'm scared," she said.

"Nah, you don't need to be scared. We're in this together. We're the best team ever, this is going to be all right."

"I know. We're so ready for this," she said. "Though I don't know why you got Eric to bring a truck on Saturday. I mean, why didn't we just hire a moving company, Auggie? I don't know if we should be trying to do this ourselves."

"Why? Because it's the way you do things. Moving companies are the easy way out, and they cause way more trouble in the end. I want hands on."

"Yeah, but..." She stopped and then leaned toward him, putting her hand on his cheek for a moment. "You got it, Babe. We'll do this the old fashioned way. Did you ask James?"

"Big strong guys like Barber and Decker you ask before you decide against a moving company," Auggie smiled with a twinkle to his eyes. "Eric is also bringing two of his friends from some gaming group to help."

"Nerds!" Annie teased, throwing up her hands. "A whole team of nerds. Good thing I'll have James to talk about normal non-dorky stuff with."

Auggie grinned and leaned forward for a kiss, which she took the opportunity to respond to quickly.

"Did you call Danielle?" Auggie asked.

"Yup. She's going to come out the whole weekend to help move the small stuff and to help make it homey."

"Yeah, I'm not going to be much good at the details," Auggie said. "I can't tell you if the art is straight."

Annie smiled. "You do everything else," she said. "I'll let the art slide."

"Should anything be painted before we move stuff in?" Auggie asked. "It would be easier that way, if we do. Not that I'm offer my services for _that_, either."

"I think everything was pretty white or basic. We'll have a look around... right? Can we go tomorrow after talking to the kids?"

"I was hoping you'd suggest that. I want to get a layout before the furniture goes in. I just want to see it."

"No, of course, Auggie, I want to see it, too. We can go plan where to put and... oh, Auggie! We have a house!" Annie practically squealed as she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Auggie's neck again.

The Walkersons are moving up," teased Auggie, referring to Annie's playful cover name from Vienna, and she laughed, remembering.

"Class act," she replied.

"Now, since we are such a class act of domesticity, do you think you could help me make something fantastic to eat that doesn't involve a microwave or cereal?"

"Bachalors," Annie teased, running her hand along his forearm and standing up.

"Did you eat?"

"I can always eat," Annie said. "I had some soup when I got home," she told him. "So I'm ready for something else."

"You didn't pack everything yet, did you?" Auggie didn't even know how he was going to cope with the confusion of everything being moved and removed from their usual places. Usually, any upheaval in his life was due to travel and was never ongoing. He couldn't wait for everything to be moved, unboxed, and memorised. And yet, in a way, the excitement of it all was different, and unexpected, and he knew that the memories of moving into this home would be very strong for him. He decided it would be better if he didn't let any of it get the best of him, and that he could deal with a few weeks of having to ask Annie where everything was. He'd decided that once everything was moved in and in place, he would take a day when Annie wasn't home, and go through every inch of that house until he could move around as freely as he could at the apartment or his office. The notion of groping around the house inch by inch in front of Annie did not appeal to him, and though he knew she would probably say something that would make him love her even more, he'd decided he'd rather do it when she wasn't there to see him.

"No, most of the kitchen stuff is still intact. I'll do it later in the week, maybe when Danielle gets here. We'll try to get through with as little chaos as we can," she said, hopefully.

"Annie, we're moving house. There is no such thing as a little chaos there."

"Whoever said we stick to the norms?" Annie asked, opening the fridge. Auggie shook his head and just laughed.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Annie sat down on the sofa beside Auggie, who was booting the laptop up. She put Auggie's coffee mug in the spill tray on the round hassock in front of them, alerting him to its being, and curled up with her own.

"How is it you look so good in the morning and I look like a ragdoll?" Annie asked, trying to smooth her bed-head hair into an elastic.

"I guess I'm just really lucky," Auggie deadpanned, and then he turned and grinned in her direction. "Or maybe that's you that's really lucky," he added, hearing her blow an exasperated laugh from her lips. He smiled at teasing her like that, he loved to hear her laugh, and he'd made jokes at his own expense since the moment he'd met her. It was easy, with her.

"Okay, you're gonna have to aim it," Auggie said, as Annie took the laptop between them on their knees. He let her adjust the angle and set the call up to Gianna.

The little girl and her grandmother appeared onscreen and Annie greeted them both. Auggie called out a hello to the little girl and she started off in a story about her new friend. It was mostly in Italian but she threw in English she had been learning and Annie and Auggie both were amazed at how talkative and intelligent the small girl was.

"How's your dancing?" Auggie asked her when one of them could get a word in.

"Oh," the little girl exclaimed, and Auggie heard footsteps running away.

"She be right back," laughed Gianna's grandmother.

"How are you all doing?" Annie asked her in Italian.

"Good, good, it's been an adjustment for all of us, but we are getting on the best we can. She's a wonderful light for us. We thank you both so much for bring her back to us, to our family."

Auggie could hear emotion in the woman's voice. To lose children but to not lose the grandchildren, it would be a terrible and wonderful gift.

"Here!" called Gianna. Then, to her grandmother, in Italian, she asked about turning something on.

Auggie smiled, taking Annie's hand. He wasn't sure what the little girl would to this time, but he was intrigued.

Music started playing over the laptop, and though it was choppy and cut in and out, Auggie and Annie could make out an old jazz tune from the 1920s.

"What's she doing?" Auggie asked Annie quietly.

"I can't see her. Wait, she just came back in the picture. Gianna? _Che cosa è questa canzone_?"

"This is my song for dancing," the girl replied. "_Sono in uno_ show," she said. "I cannot see Auggie my dress," she said. "So I hear him the music."

"This kid kills me," Auggie said, laughing. "I _love_ it, Gianna. I love jazz music, did you know that?"

"What is _jassmusik_?" she asked, which made Auggie laugh even more.

"_È perfetto_," Auggie said. "I love it."

"We both do, it's beautiful," Annie said.

After another five minutes, they finished off their call with Gianna and moved on to Violet's family, who had just returned home, and who had a very cranky baby on their hands.

"Aw," Annie said, "Well, you can hear her, Auggie."

"I sure can." The crying got loud and Auggie knew they had brought her in front of their webcam. Instantly, both Annie and Auggie felt the inclination to try to calm Violet down. Auggie desperately longed to hold her and quiet her. "How big is she now?" he asked.

"Um," Annie said, turning toward Auggie. "Here," she said, positioning his arms the way Violet's cousin was holding the baby. Then she touched his arm where Violet's head would lie, and touched his other arm, telling him how far her feet reached. He smiled, as Annie asked Valeria how much the little girl weighed, and how she was progressing. They were told that Violet was in the healthy range for everything, and showed no signs of the trauma of the plane crash. Auggie felt a wave of gratitude wash over him for these little lives that had been spared.

The third Skype call rang and Auggie reached over, looking for Annie's hand. She enveloped it around his as the call was answered in Italy once more.

Auggie heard a prompting from a female voice, and then he heard a little song sung so quietly that he and Annie both leaned forward, as Annie raised the volume. Auggie didn't know the song, it was in Italian, but a smile crept over his face as he listened to the little girl. She had ways of connecting to him in her own quiet manner. He felt Annie's fingers tighten around his, and he patted her hand between his. When the little girl finished, they both clapped and cheered for her, along with the rest of the family in the room with her. She disappeared for Auggie then, her shyness overtaking her, but Annie whispered that she never left, and was looking directly at them.

She was very quiet, her aunt told them, and she was very intense at the things she loved. She loved to draw and colour, they told Annie and Auggie, and Auggie thought of the picture she had drawn for them that final morning in the hotel in France. Alessia was terribly shy, they said, but she was doing well. She liked to sing, and play outside, and she liked cats.

"You'll have to visit us one day soon, Kiddo," Auggie said. "Annie and I have a real house now, and you and your... cousins... can come stay." He wasn't sure how they were referring to themselves with her. "It even has a back yard. We can send you pictures."

The little voice, speaking in soft Italian asked, "Does it have a swing-set?"

Auggie heard Annie giggle.

"It might," said Auggie, and he felt Annie turn towards him and he just grinned, knowing it would get her. He also hear Alessia say _yay_ on the other side of the screen, and it made him smile even more.

After they had caught up with how Alessia was doing, they made one more Skype call to Alannah and Sam. Both the children greeted Annie and Auggie immediately, though Sam hogged the screen with stories about soccer.

"I think you must like soccer," Auggie teased him.

"Yeah!" Sam said, excitedly. "Do you play soccer, Auggie?"

"Well, Kid, I haven't played soccer for a long time. And now I can't see the ball, so..."

"When we get to visit, we'll bring a ball with a beeper in it so Auggie can play with you," Annie said, and Auggie heard the smile in _her_ voice this time. He rolled his eyes and nodded, conceding. There was no getting out of anything with Annie on his team.

"Cool," said the boy. "Hey, you get that laptap fixed, Auggie?"

"I did, we're using it right now to talk," Auggie told him.

"Nice," said Sam.

Annie interrupted the boys to ask Alannah how school was going, and what she was reading. The little girl told them about the books her teacher was sharing with them and about the sleepover she had with her best friend. It all was so normal, thought Auggie. The children's mother was also there, and she updated Annie and Auggie of her husband's and her own recovery. They were both back at work now, and the world went on for them. Auggie shook his head the third time the woman thanked Annie and him for taking care of everyone, especially her kids.

"I've already got my thanks, just listening to you guys talk about your normal, old, everyday lives," he said.

"Not _everyday_," the woman responded. "You don't hear about a family returning from a plane crash intact and okay. It will always be something to be thankful for."

Auggie dipped his head. He knew that feeling. He stroked the back of Annie's hand. They'd come out of a couple of plane crashes and somehow, they'd come through intact, and nothing about their relationship was normal or everyday. And, Auggie thought to himself, he was very thankful, indeed.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Corvette?" Annie asked.

"I know you want to," Auggie said.

"If we take my car over to the storage unit, we can leave the 'Vette at the house, in the little barn or garage or whatever that building is, and take a bus back to get my car. I mean, we can make sure it can be secured, but... it'd be kind of... cool... to have something there. You know. Makes it ours... a bit."

Auggie laughed, pulling his T-shirt down and tucking it in. "It's ours, Annie. No-one will stop us."

"Eeeee!" Annie said, and Auggie knew she was switching from foot to foot excitedly before she ran into him and squeezed him, hopping up and down in his arms.

"Let's go see our house," Auggie said, as he turned and headed down the steps, with Annie following behind. They headed out the door and down to Annie's vehicle. Auggie could feel Annie almost pulling him in her eagerness.

"We'll be in for the beautiful evenings, Auggie. On the verandah."

"You love that verandah, don't you?" he asked her as he climbed into her car.

"I love the whole idea of it. Let's put up a hanging bed like the one in Sardinia right away so we can sit there."

"What, no rocking chairs?" Auggie asked.

"I can't cuddle into you in a rocking chair," Annie said, backing out the car. "And I wanna do that as I tell you what every sunset we watch together looks like."

"You may regret saying that," Auggie said. "I won't hold you to it."

"What? No, I won't. You think I'm going to get tired of seeing things for you? I may not want to do it every minute, and maybe I'll take some breaks, but I promised you my left eye. Have I let you down yet?" When he shook his head, she continued. "When we're out on our verandah together watching the sun set, I'll always describe it to you, Auggie. How could I not? But don't expect me to always describe the sun_rise_. Although," she mused, "That might be fun, too."

"So now on my way home I get to picture you in a... semi-see-through white cotton summer dress, sitting in the evening setting sun on the verandah waiting for me," Auggie said, schooling his face into thoughtful daydreaming.

Annie laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean, what am I talking about?"

"I mean, how are you picturing me on any verandah right now? I mean, if I think about it, Auggie, you've never actually seen me."

"No, I can't say as I have. You're just realising this now?"

"No. I just find it funny."

"You find it funny that your fiancé has never seen you?" Auggie tried to look hurt.

"It's funny because you know me better than anyone. You could touch my hand and know it was me. You could touch my _knee_ and you'd know it was me."

Auggie grinned lasciviously.

"But whatever picture of me you have in that head of yours isn't me," she debated him.

Auggie smiled at her. "Yes, it is," he said.

Annie obviously realised it was pointless to argue that logic, because she just reached over and squeezed his knee. He smiled. She could never know if he was close in his image of her, and he could never know if he was close, so they would have to agree on a draw. He knew he was right, he could see her exactly as she appeared to him. Of course, she was right, too, if he were suddenly gifted with a flash of sight to take her appearance in, it would possibly surprise him. But, like Schrodinger, they would never know how close he was, if he was right, or if he was way off. In a way, he was glad. It kept her a mystery in a way, something that he would always want to know, and yet, because he knew her so well in every other way, no-one else could ever have the kind of relationship they had.

They switched vehicles and Annie drove a little more responsibly this time around. There would be plenty of time for road trips in their future. She followed the directions she'd recorded in her phone and found the driveway hidden between the trees.

"Well?" Auggie said, as they climbed out of the 'Vette. "Does it look even better now that it's ours?" He unfolded his cane and stepped forward slowly, until his felt Annie's hand bump against his.

"Auggie, it looks like... it looks like home. I can't believe it's ours. It's all ours."

Auggie couldn't stand it anymore. "Come on, let's go in, so I can see it, too."

Annie walked forward, placing his hand on the railing of the steps. "What do you want me to do?" Annie asked. "Do you want to walk around with me, or just on your own?"

"I'll check it out myself, but... just stay close." He tried to sound sure, but he'd never really done this before, seeing a house from corner to corner so he'd know every inch... at least, he'd never done it by touch before. He knew his apartment, but he'd seen it, and it wasn't new and unknown when he'd come back to it. He'd taken to his office slowly, learning it when he figured he was alone. But he wanted to know this house because it belonged to them, he needed to see everything in the ways he could, just as Annie wanted to see where she would add pictures and colours and find out where the light hit.

They reached the top stair and Auggie made a step and a half when his cane hit the wall. He moved the extra step ahead and reached out, feeling part of a screen door. He felt to the left and came to the handle. He pulled out the key and turned to Annie, holding it up, and flicking his head to motion her over to him. She moved in and he found her hand, putting the key into it, and then wrapping his hand around her smaller one, they inserted the key into the lock together.


	11. Chapter 11

**I am not the rightful owner of Covert Affairs or its spectacular characters. I profit in no way. But I would profit emotionally and mentally if the rightful owners renewed this show so I didn't have to make up my own proper continuation. Until such time, which could be forever, I will remain the saddest kid on the block. On that note, ENJOY!**

Chapter Eleven

The door swung open and Auggie slid his cane over the step, following it into the entryway. It sounded very empty inside. The furniture that had been there previously was gone now, and the sound of his cane and his footsteps, as well as Annie's behind him, echoed off the walls and ceiling at him. He felt Annie's hand slide up his back as she stepped up to him, and he wrapped his arm around her.

"It's empty," she said.

"I can tell," he replied.

"What do we do first?" Annie asked, sounding in awe.

"Whatever the hell we want," replied Auggie, and he heard Annie laugh. He turned toward her with a grin. "It's our house."

She rubbed her fingers on his back. "It's our house," she repeated.

Auggie breathed in the smell of their house, and then he asked Annie to give him the specifics on the big room to his left.

"The living room was probably on the right of a hallway, and the dining room, and then the kitchen at the end. But they took the walls out on that side. So the living room is an open area connected all the way to the kitchen at the other end of the house."

"Nice for having company," Auggie said.

"It is," Annie said, with a smile in her voice. He could tell she was already imagining entertaining friends over a few drinks. "There's a window on our right behind us halfway from the door to the wall. Then along the wall on the right-"

"The outside wall?" Auggie asked, turning and finding the wall near the door with his cane and then his hand.

"The outside wall," she confirmed, and continued, "There's a window, and then a double patio door."

"I found that," Auggie said. "I found it last time when I was here with our contractor."

"Well, aren't you way ahead of me," she said, walking him along the perimeter of the room slowly. He traced over the window sill of the first window and followed the wall into the corner and then along to the next window. He stopped for a moment, sweeping his hands up the side of the window frame, seeing how large it was, and how it opened. Then he turned and walked with Annie again until he reached the double doors. He felt for the lock and turned it, swinging open the door for her to step through.

"Wouldn't want you to get behind," Auggie said, his eyes twinkling with an impish grin, stepping through after her.

"Auggie, it's perfect, it's so perfect."

"Tell me. Tell me why it's perfect," he said, as her hand slipped over his.

"There are trees further along, but just away from the verandah it's a lawn. Or maybe it was a garden. There's a crab-apple tree over there, on the right of the open part, and a willow to the left. You can explore those later, if you want. Then, there's a line of trees and probably the rest of the world somewhere. But where we're sitting, we're high enough to see the sun set down over there along the tree line and not another house to be seen."

Auggie liked the sound of all of that. Annie took his arm and gently took him forward to the rail of the verandah, taking his hand and carefully letting it graze the leaves of the bushes planted just beside the deck.

"Rosebushes," she said. "There are plants along there I've never seen before. I think we're going to learn a little something about gardening, Hun. They've left us as caretakers to some pretty spectacular plants."

"Uh oh," Auggie said. "May I remind you of the ficus plant?"

"Yeah, but Auggie, that needed to be watered, and you forgot because, well, out of sight, out of mind, but these will be watered without us. They're like, the perfect starter kit."

"I think that's what we have here," said Auggie, listening to the rustle in the leaves that now once again dressed the trees.

Annie turned around with Auggie, and they went back inside. She closed and locked the doors and Auggie continued along the perimeter of the first floor. His cane hit the floor skirting of the wood stove and he felt the bricks of the chimney along the wall behind it. Another window, and Annie declared that this would be a good place for a table and chairs, that it was probably where the dining room had been once a long time ago. He continued, passing one more window. Where the window at the front of the house was a double wide pane, these ones were all single wide.

` "Put your hand out to your left," Annie said, moving away from him, her steps slow as she looked around herself.

Auggie did as she asked, and found that island, the one that felt so much like his own. As a gift, Kenny, his contractor, had rounded the corners of the granite counter before they moved in. Auggie walked around it slowly, trailing his hand along it, taking in the size and dimension as he went, the information making the start of a memory map in his head. His hand discovered the stove top as he came around the inside of the island, and he checked underneath to see if the oven was there, too, but it was only a row of drawers below. He traced over the stovetop. It was similar, as Annie had said, to his own. A smooth surface that would have to be marked, with the dials on the right. His fingers graced over the appliance, and then he continued trailing the island. Once back around to the far end, he returned to the wall again. There was a gap where the fridge would go, followed by a counter, which he ran into, not paying attention to the fact that he was in the cut out. He manoeuvred back around it and continued following along the countertop, finding the double-sink. He reached up and found there were cupboards, and they were all made over like his own cupboards that Kenny had helped design years back. He ran his hands along them, inside, smiling to himself. Kenny had come into the picture when Auggie was tired of being black and blue, running into cupboard doors, dropping things that weren't quite set on the shelf fully, never being able to find what he needed.

"He's good," Auggie turned to where he'd last heard Annie. When she didn't reply, he raised his eyebrows, a questioning look on his face.

"What? Oh, sorry, uh, yeah, he did a great job, it looks great."

"What are you doing?" Auggie asked her.

"Nothing," she said, but he could hear a teasing tone in her voice.

"Are you just watching me? You're watching me, aren't you?"

He heard her cross the floor to him and her arms moved under his around his waist. "You're oddly mesmerising," she said, and he said it along with her once she started, nodding and shaking his head.

"Then you missed my crash back there," he said, motioning over his shoulder with his thumb. When she didn't say and thing, he scrunched his nose, saying, "It's okay, there will plenty more of those."

"I don't care," Annie said.

Auggie laughed. "You don't care? That's rather heartless of you."

"You make my life so much more interesting," she said, the grin obvious.

"I'll take your word for that," Auggie said, leaning forward, meeting her lips. "You may not be saying that when-"

"I'll always say it. You make my life way more interesting, August Anderson." She leaned up again and kissed him once more.

He grinned, and she stepped away, checking out cupboards and drawers. "There's lots of cubby room," she mused.

"I'll check it out when we're putting our things in place," Auggie said. He followed the counter along, where Annie told him above it was another single window, coming to a cupboard or wall jutting out from the counter. Touching it, he discovered the oven, installed at an easy level in a small wall separating the back door. Below the oven was another cupboard, and then Auggie trailed around the small jutted out wall to the back entryway, his fingers recognising the door, skimming across. His cane touched the wall ahead and he reached out, following it to an opening

Stepping inside, he turned, calling back to Annie, "Laundry?" He felt along the wall and came across the light switches.

He heard her step over. "Yup. It's nice, there's a closet and cupboards there on the wall straight ahead.. the washer and dryer on the left... it doesn't look like they'll be hard to mark for you... So you'll be able to do all the laundry," she teased him.

"I can't catch a break," Auggie said, scanning over the appliances as he moved forward.

"Little bathroom here." Annie peeked inside. "It's got a window, but it's glazed. Nice and bright."

"Good planning," Auggie stated, turning around. "Little kids have a hard time getting their snow pants off _and_ getting all the way upstairs in one go."

He _knew_ he could hear Annie's smile behind him. He would swear to it, and it made him smile to himself as well, which she apparently caught, as well. He heard a little gasp, maybe surprised because she was thinking the same thing. He traced around the next doorframe, feeling Annie sneak in beside him, her arm reaching around his waist.

"Did you say this was the office?"

"It looks very official."

He rolled his eyes. "Walls?"

"Bookshelves. Built-in along one wall. There's a bit of a wall on this side of the door because of the bookshelves, and there's a hall closet on the other side of the wall here. Window, double "

"Great, I'll have good lighting," Auggie deadpanned, feeling along the wall for the light switch. He might not need them, but he needed to know where they all were. He reached in front of Annie and touched the wall.

"Who says it's all yours?" Annie asked. "I thought it'd be sexy to share an office with the hottest tech in town."

Auggie's mouth twitched. "Mmm, office romance," he said.

"We'd better get a big desk," Annie replied. As he turned with a look something between surprise and agreement, she added, in a mock serious tone, "I mean, you have a lot of tech... you know, lots of equipment..."

"I do," Auggie agreed, laughing as she kissed him again. "We should wait until we get that desk... and keep on with our task at hand."

"It's so hard when you're so distracting," she said.

"Agreed," he said, kissing her again, pulling her tight. They managed to extract themselves from each other and continue on with their first look at their house. Auggie felt the door of the closet Annie had referred to as he passed along the hallway, and then another door. He stopped, finding the doorknob, pushing the door open. Instantly, he felt the space below him. "Cellar," he stated.

"Do you want to go down there?" Annie flicked on the light switch beside her on left.

"I guess we should. Specs?"

"Wall on both sides up here. The wall on the right ends where the closet fits in. The wall on the left ends about two thirds down. Stairs turn to the left. There are railings on both sides. Twelve stairs. You okay?"

"Yup, thanks." Auggie started down the stairs, careful because they were steep. At the bottom, he began scanning with his cane, stepping out of Annie's way. She gave him the layout of the basement: the electric panel, the water heater, the metal frame of a storage shelf. There was a raised floor through most of the basement, and half the walls were Gyprocked.

"Pretty bare," she said. "They probably used it for storage or something. There are a few high windows. It could probably be finished into a decent TV room or something."

"Potential, I like it," Auggie said, and they turned and headed back up. Around the wall from the cellar stairs, there was a small inlet where the second flight of stairs went along side the wall above.

"Good spot for a table. For the keys and your cane and stuff?" She sounded like she was asking him. "It's out of the way, tucked in here. We could even get something with drawers. So we can fill them with junk, like all the other homeowners."

Auggie nodded, continuing ahead. "Sounds perfect," he said. "Oh, look, I found the stairs. Door's over there." He waved his hand to his ten O'clock and Annie nodded.

"Yuh," she said. "You got it."

"Okay," Auggie said. "If you don't mind, I'm just gonna pace it out for a bit, until I get my bearings. If I do it now, then it will be a little easier when everything is going on. Or at least, I think so. I don't know. I've never done this before."

"Of course, Auggie. Do what you need to do; I'm going to take measurements of the windows and stuff. If you need me..." He felt her come near. "You know what to do." She leaned in and whistled softly into his ear, and then passed by him, brushing her hands along his arm.

_Damn, that woman_! He thought to himself, a grin crossing his face. He moved past the staircase and touched the wall near the front door again. Starting point. He would case the floor, counting steps until he reached the island, until he reached the end of the hall to the other door, until he could tell how many paces each door on his left was from the front. He wasn't sure if Annie stopped to watch him, but he heard her measuring tape zipping and snapping, as she worked at her own task. He scanned the kitchen for danger zones, and found none. Even the cabinet close to the window didn't jut out anywhere to get him in the head or shoulder. He sought out the light switches and even a few of the plugs on the walls. He found the wainscoting along the hallway in his second pass. He thoroughly checked out the woodstove and small chimney behind it.

When he was satisfied his _viewing_ of the first floor, he called to Annie.

"Right there," she said, finishing what she was doing and following Auggie, who was already on the second set of stairs that ran up the wall. He turned on the landing and went up the last set of stairs following the railing on his right.

"Is this open?" Auggie waved his hand over the wooden railing at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah," Annie said. "It's open to the stairway on this side, with this banister here. Across the hallway, one of the bedrooms."

Auggie turned, moving back past Annie, and followed the wall until he came to the doorframe along the same side as the staircase. He stepped in the room. His bedroom. Annie moved behind him, and over to the window. Auggie heard her measuring tape again, and he took his time, doing the perimeter of the room. He found the light switch, the closet, the window, and on one side of the room, the door that led to the master bathroom.

"How you doing?" Annie called, working away at her own project.

"Perfect," he replied. "This is pretty great. It's a good size. Layout is easy." He bent down, exploring the size of the bathtub. "Tub is perfect for two," he called back to her, hearing her enter into the room behind him.

"We may need to test the theory," Annie said, slipping her arms around his waist, pressing against his back.

He turned, his own arms wrapping around her. "I agree. We may need several tests. I'd say we should go at this from a clinical standpoint. Also, I should probably make sure I have the count from the tub to the bed committed to memory."

"Probably a good idea," she said, grinning.

"Is there another door to the hallway?" Auggie asked, turning his head, stepping to the left.

"How do you know that?" Annie asked, smiling and puzzled.

"I can hear it."

"You can hear a doorway?"

"The sound isn't bouncing back at me from that spot," Auggie said. "Bathrooms have very loud acoustics. I can hear..." His hand touched the frame of the door as he passed through it back into the hallway. "Yup," he said. His cane found the doorway to the other bathroom across the hall. It would be so great to have two bathrooms, he thought. They'd remodelled this house in all the right places. The layout in here was similar, except there was only a single sink instead of two, and there were more cupboards. Auggie moved back into the hall way, and took in the last two rooms in the house. Two smaller but equal-sized bedrooms. Auggie slid his hand on the wall, finding the light switch. He had a moment that struck him quite profoundly, imagining himself standing where he stood now, telling his child to sleep well, turning the light off, telling them he loved them.

"Okay, I know you want to know where everything is, but how come you keep looking for the light switches?" Annie asked, sounding puzzled.

He shook his head of the thought he wasn't sure he wanted to share with Annie just yet, so he rounded his mind back to her question. "Because I only know people who can see, and people who can see need lights, and if this is my house, I need to know how to turn lights on or everyone will be uncomfortable." He raised his eyebrows at her. "I'm nothing if not thoughtful."

"We appreciate it," Annie said. "The sighted are so dependant on lights; it's kind of you to cater to us." She rubbed his back. "I'm kind of picturing a nursery, Auggie. I'm not ready to picture a nursery. We can maybe make one a guest room... for now," Annie said. "Or both of them... you know... for now."

He smiled. "I know," he said. "For now."

"You wanna pace it out up here?" she asked him.

"No, I'm good. Up here there are walls to follow. I'll catch on in no time."

"Auggie?"

"Yeah?"

"You do whatever you need to, okay?"

He nodded, giving her a little smile, thanking her silently.

"I can tell... you feel uncomfortable doing this in front of anyone. But I don't want you to feel that way with me. You must know that by now." She took Auggie's hands in hers, and she spoke determinedly without beating around the bush. "I know you have to do things however you need to do them. I'm not... what was it you said before? _Weirded out_? I'm not weirded out. You surely know that by now, I've worked with you for nearly six years now. I have only barely scratched the surface of seeing how you adapt yourself, and it's been all pretty awesome. In fact, I find all this..." she took his hand and traced all his fingers, speaking in a seductive voice, "pretty sexy. I can remember that night..." her voice was capped with a smile. "when you saw every part of me for the first time this way."

"So can I," Auggie said. "One of my better sightseeing efforts," he said.

She put her hands on his face, gently guiding his lips down to hers. "I can't wait for more of those little trips," she said. "And think, we have all new surroundings to sightsee in."

He laughed, kissing her again. "Why wait?" he asked.

"We don't even have a bed," she giggled, returning another kiss.

Auggie gave an exasperated and clearly fake sigh. "Details," he said. "So many details."

"We do have a bed at your apartment still. I guess we could still just go home and pick this up there," she playfully kissed him back. "Some times you just have to sacrifice a bit."

"We need to change our definition of _home_," said Auggie. "_This_ is our home. We will wake up here, and come home here, and eat here, and live and love here."

"Eat here," Annie mused. "I'm hungry."

"You packed something."

"How did you know that?"

"Aw, come on, Annie, you know I know everything."

"I... yeah, you're right. I totally packed. A couple of beers, a couple of sandwiches, and pretzels."

"Uh huh." Auggie shook his head, laughing. "Come on then, let's picnic in our _home_. Before it becomes utter chaos." He took her hand, and together, they walked back down the stairs slowly, still trying to make themselves believe that this was their new beginning.

"We're so going to rock this house thing," Annie said.

"I know," said Auggie. For the moment, he was content to go with that. He didn't want to talk about any of the worries he had about the little things like mowing the lawn and repairing leaky faucets. Those things would work themselves out. For now, they had a picnic to share in the home they would share for years to come, and Auggie was absolutely positive that things were finally perfect. Things were finally as they should be. Annie's warm hand in his, they took their picnic lunch out to the verandah, and neither one of them could keep the thrill of the day out of their hearts, or the smiles off their faces.


	12. Chapter 12

**Always the disclaimer that I own nothing. I make no money from my writing. Maybe one day someone will give me a publishing deal for something, but until then, here's some free stuff. If I don't profit, it at least makes me feel happy that the Network is also not profiting off of me.**

Chapter Twelve

Auggie was typing as Joan peppered him with rhetorical questions. He had his headphones skewed over one ear, listening to both her and the live-feedback as he typed. He scanned his fingers over the Braille display, and relayed the information back to Joan. The mission they'd set in motion in Ukraine was spiralling. Nothing was stable, and all the intel coming in was scrutinised over possible faultiness.

"We'll have to do an extraction for agents Cole and Welsley. If we don't hear from Drovnev soon, we'll have to think of a different tactic."

"I think we need to give Dvoynev more time," Auggie said. "He can do this."

"Auggie, the guns aren't the only thing we'll lose if you're wrong."

"I'm not wrong," Auggie said. "Trust Dvoynev."

He waited, listening to Joan pace behind him. He half-turned his head, ready to take whatever orders she ultimately gave. She touched his shoulder. "Let Dvoynev do the tracking device."

Auggie breathed a little sigh of relief and spoke into the headset. "Roger that, it's a go." He read the display and Joan walked toward the door. He turned. "It's going to work. And when we find out where they're going, it'll be a bigger catch."

"I hope you're right," Joan said, opening the door.

Auggie turned back to his computer. Shit was going down and every time they seemed to have things under control over there, something smashed up against another front. It looked like they would be there all night. Barber had gone to crash for a half an hour, and Auggie was feeling hungry. Late nights and hunger would probably mean a headache, so he reached in his drawer and took some pre-emptive tablets. He knew the power drinks were not his best choice, either, but he needed to work through the urge to just put his head down on his desk for a nap, and he needed be alert, even if his head threatened upheaval.

The tracking device was in place by sometime in the wee hours of the night, D.C. time, much to Auggie's relief. He didn't say _I told you so_ to Joan. He knew his operative would come through, and though he'd had to fight hard to put the turned agent on assignment in the past, every op he'd sent the man on, the agent had pulled through. Auggie trusted him. Joan trusted Auggie. It's why most of the operations both on U.S. soil and off it were routine, and well-played out.

"Boat's offshore," Barber said over his fourth coffee. "Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub."

Auggie took a deep breath. The boat would reach international waters in no time, and the three American agents would be safe and heading back to American soil. He read the Braille that was clicking across his display: co-ordinates of the gun-shipment. Now they just had to wait until it reached its destination.

"Hey, Auggie," Holman said. "Why don't you go home?"

"Hey, Holman," Auggie replied, turning in the man's direction. "Yeah, I'd love to pack it in." Auggie tipped his head from shoulder to shoulder, trying to stretch the cricks out. He felt his watch, and groaned as he read it was just shy of four a.m.

"I'll be here for another hour, or so," Barber informed him from his desk. "I'll fill Holman in."

Auggie rubbed his eyes, and then began the shut down process on his computer, moving his laser cane into its drawer and taking his folding cane out. "Joan gone?"

"Yeah," said Barber. "She left a while ago."

Auggie stopped, not realised he had a _look_ on his face. Joan usually checked in with him before she left. Auggie shrugged it off. Joan was exhausted, and had a small child to go home to, Auggie didn't blame her for taking off as fast as she could.

He grabbed his jacket and his bag and headed down to the main door to check out. There was a shuttle heading to his side of town shortly, but he didn't feel like walking back at all, so he opted to have them call a driver for him. He waited outside, hoping the fresh air would bring him around. He was glad that the night had been successful, he always felt lighter, like something had mattered, when they pulled off a good mission, but it took a toll on him sometimes.

The driver alerted him that he was there, and guided Auggie to the door handle of the car. Auggie sat in the back, resting his head against the back of the seat, closing his eyes, letting his mind empty. He didn't recall much of the ride, he knew he'd dozed when his driver woke him with their arrival.

"Need an arm?" the man Auggie recognised as Ross asked him, as Auggie climbed out.

"No, thanks, Ross. I'm good. Have a good night."

"Good night, Mr. Anderson."

Auggie reached the building door, passing inside, and heard the car pull away. He dragged himself up the stairs and down the hall. It dawned on him that even half-asleep, he knew every step of this building. His cane struck against the door casing of his apartment and he reached out, finding the lock. He never got _that_ right the first time around, which also struck him as funny, but he finally managed to slide the door open as quietly as he could, and closing it the same way. He moved to the credenza, collapsing his cane and putting everything in the tray. He went to the open closet to hang his jacket and kick off his shoes, and then went to the sink. He found his prescription pills, and took out two, and then took a glass off the shelf and filled it with water. He'd probably have to schedule melatonin in the rest of the week to get his sleep back in sync with the sun, but he knew he'd have to be up and back at work in a few hours, and it wasn't the time to knock himself out just yet. The weekend was coming, and they were moving house.

He wasn't ready for that, either.

He climbed the stairs, unbuttoning his shirt.

"Auggie?" Annie mumbled.

"Shh, it's me, go back to sleep. I'll be right there."

He smiled to himself when she didn't say anything else. Every day that he knew her, she became more in tune with him, so much so that she barely even noticed when he snuck in late. She just confirmed to herself he was there, and was back asleep in seconds. Auggie loved that there was that much comfort level to living with each other.

A shower could wait, he decided, as he put his clothes as neatly as he could on the storage bench outside his closet. He traced along the edge of the bed, finding the edge of the sheets, and slid in beside his fiancé, who immediately turned into him, and then made a frosty sound as she found him to be colder than her spot in the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and immediately warmed up, and they were both asleep in less than a minute.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The alarm blared, after what felt like ten minutes to Auggie, and Annie groaned. She rolled over and hit the button, sitting still for a moment.

"Auggie? What time did you come in last night?"

Auggie didn't move, but he replied, "four."

"Are you going in?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Just stay in bed, I'll get a shower and I'll wake you when I'm out."

Auggie rolled over and let himself doze off again. He was grateful for the extra few minutes. When Annie had showered and dressed, she woke Auggie with the hair dryer humming in his bathroom. He pulled himself over to the side of the bed and rubbed at his face.

"You okay? Still going in?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just need some coffee and a shower."

"Well, go get showered, I'll make coffee, and we'll fix you up."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The morning was a literal drag for Auggie. The operatives were safe, returning back to the U.S., Joan had scheduled a meeting at nine-thirty that involved a lot of paperwork, and Annie didn't appear with a coffee until almost noon.

"Where have you been?" he asked her, curious.

"I've been having a wonderful time poking around the Potomac looking for a non-existent safehouse for Russian gunrunners. All I got out of that was wet shoes."

"The only thing I can come up with is bike clubs. They funnel the money through, all the weapons are unmarked. It makes no sense that they would actually come here to do the hard work themselves. The guns go out of here, through Cuba, through South America, through any links they have. Belenko is one of those links."

"So why are we getting so much information on the whereabouts of the gun trade being somewhere here? False intel? Someone's throwing us off? This is the third search I've been sent on this week with no results."

Auggie pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. We're working on that. I had a meeting with Joan this morning."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just tired."

"What time you off?"

"I'm heading home around four. Unless something happens. You know the score."

"Need a lift?"

"No." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine."

"You look tired." She pressed her hand on his cheek. "Get some rest. Joan willing, I should be home after six. I'll bring sustenance."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Auggie!"

Auggie turned towards Decker's voice.

"Hey, brother, you going home?"

"Yeah. I'm cutting out early today."

"I'm heading out, too, I'll give you a lift. We still on for the weekend?"

"Oh, yeah, you're not getting out of this one. Friday through until Sunday. And then my nights will be upside down there for a while." Auggie held his hand up and felt James's elbow bump into it. "And thanks, I'd love a ride."

Decker let Auggie's hand slide down his arm to the door handle, and Auggie got in, careful of the low roof, keeping his hand up on the edge of the door frame. He got himself situated and reached out for the door handle, catching air the first couple of times.

"What in God's name are you driving?" he asked James, his face pinched in confusion, as Decker closed his own door and put on his seatbelt. Auggie reached up and felt along the dash, and then along the door and beside the seat, getting his bearings.

"Aw, Auggie, Man, this is a '75 Chev Monza. Two-plus-two. It's a classic."

"A classic! Where'd you dredge this artifact up? Sale at the senior's home?"

"Excuse me, I seem to remember you going all ape over a car you were looking to buy when we got back from Chechnya. You were hoping to make enough for a sleek blue Corvette Stingray, even more ancient than my little Monza here. Whatever happened to that idea?"

"It came to be."

"Oh yeah?"

Auggie gave him a small grin. "Yeah."

"I guess... I guess you don't have it now."

Auggie chuckled. "I kept it in storage... I... I kinda had hopes that they... might be able to fix this," he motioned to his eyes, "so I kept it, just in case."

"Oh..."

"But, no, that was just a hopeful dream. I saw my specialist about four years after for tests. They assured me quite factually that it wasn't going to happen. So, in a big reaction, the only way I know how, I gave the car away, to Annie of all people, and went to Eritrea to ask another woman to marry me."

"Jeezus, Auggie, do you do anything half-assed?"

Auggie laughed. "No, not really."

"So what happened with this other woman?"

"Well, we got kidnapped by pirates, were held for ransom, I had to tell her I was CIA, she decided I was... I came with too much baggage, she didn't want to deal with it. I don't think, looking back on it, that she really wanted to be in a relationship. Or at least, not with me. She was close to me because of her brother. Billy was in the unit with me that... died... on that last mission with me in Iraq. She thought maybe being with me would give her a part of Billy. I guess I thought the same thing. I thought I could have a life with her, outside all of this. But then, the CIA is still what broke us apart. For a brief minute, she wanted a family with me."

"And Annie? Where was she, if you were giving her your Corvette?"

"I was as blind as they come, Decker. I couldn't see what was right in front of me."

"But you gave her the car."

"Yeah, I know. And not just any car. I gave her my dream car. That should have told me something right there. Why wouldn't I keep it and give it to Parker? Nope, me, genius I am, king of missing the obvious, I gave it to Annie and told her I was off to propose to Parker."

"Damn, Auggie. Damn, that couldn't have gone over well."

"Nope. Sure didn't. Long story short, Annie ended up with another guy, I came home, Parker broke up with me, I got shitfaced in Allen's and punched an asshole in the face."

"Was he really an asshole?" Decker interjected.

"Oh, yeah, he was an asshole all right. But it was me they carted off to jail."

"Ahh, there's part of that story you told me about earlier."

"Yeah," Auggie grinned. "I'm acquainted with jail cells. But by this time, Annie was off with this guy. She ended up getting shot... he was killed... I sat by her bedside. I stood by her. And I realised what a jerk I'd been."

Decker slowed the car to stop at a light. "Did you tell her?"

"I kinda did. But not when she was conscious. And then a whole pile of nasty went down in Russia, but after it all came back together again, I couldn't waste another second. I came clean."

"Such a sweet, non-violent fairy-tale romance," Decker joked. Sometimes a joke was the only way to acknowledge something undeserving of a joke.

"If only that was the half of it."

"Shit. Really?

"Yeah, it's been a definite journey through very rough waters. We were together happily for like, five minutes, and then all hell broke lose again. I thought it was done. I thought our chance was over. I never gave up hoping, but I came so close, James. I did some pretty uncool stuff myself, to try and cope, to try and make it better somehow, and everything made it worse."

"If you're together after all that, you guys are meant to be together."

Auggie smiled, broadly. "We were meant to be together from the first minute she told me she went to a Mingus Tribute festival in Sweden."

Decker laughed. "Yeah, what happened to you, Auggie? Jazz?"

"Again, it was Billy."

"Ahh." Decker paused. "Sounds like Billy meant a whole lot."

"Yeah."

"Sounds like Billy's death meant even more."

Auggie turned to face Decker. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, did you like jazz when you were hanging with Billy and your unit?"

"No, not at all."

"And this Parker... Maybe so you could stay close to Billy somehow... because of his sister? This is war-guilt, Auggie."

Auggie was silent.

"You're carrying Billy around with you out of guilt, Man."

There was a strong, tight feeling in Auggie's chest. "No, I got Nasir. Khani. I promised them I would get him, and I did."

"Yeah," Decker said, his voice low. "And that's how I feel about Belenko. He killed my unit, in a way. One by one. He tortured you; I saw how you came out of that. And I wasn't there for any of you. But I'm not going to let him get away with it. This life has fucked us up, Man. We walk around carrying the guilt of the world with us every day. Why? Where does that get us?"

"I realised this, too," Auggie said quietly. "When I realised why I wasn't with Parker... what my reasons had been. I had been grasping at family. Someone close to all of us here had been killed, and I thought I needed to make the next move, I felt pushed to do it, before something else happened to stop it.

"And the music? That's just what I like now. I feel good about it, and I sometimes think about Billy, and the good times we had over there. He was funny. Made me laugh, when we were all scared. I've grown _into_ jazz, instead of wearing it as Billy's badge.

"We'll get Belenko. We will, Decker." Auggie listened to Decker's silence. He hoped James believed him. He still needed to know James would not go off on his own.

"We're here," Decker said, pulling close to the curb.

"I thought so," Auggie said, letting his seatbelt loose.

"You okay? Do you need me to...?"

"Nope, I'm fine, Brother."

"Oh, okay."

Auggie opened the door. "Now, no backing out on this weekend, Decker."

"You said you had beer."

Auggie grinned, leaning down into the car. "I have beer."

"I'll be there."

Auggie laughed and thanked his friend for the lift. It felt good just to sit like buddies and talk about the way things were. Auggie had learned to bottle everything up inside him, but ever since Annie had come along, he'd learned that talking wasn't the painful, wound-opening action of defeat he'd once thought it was. Sometimes, it actually brought peace of mind, and often it brought people closer. Marrying Annie, buying a home, having real friends that he could talk to about his real life, his real feelings, this was a step Auggie had wanted to take, but had been so afraid.

He climbed the stairs to the apartment, not really knowing _why_ he had convinced himself it would be bad to let people close to him. He figured a lot had to do with needing to keep the CIA life so secret that everything else had begun from that root, and he stopped knowing where he could draw a line. So everything had become off-limits.

It took no time for Auggie to make it to his bed, where he kicked off his shoes, not caring where they landed, and lying on the bed on his stomach, he fell asleep in minutes.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie was awakened feeling Annie curling around him, rubbing his back. He felt a smile creep over his face as he realised.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," she said. "This is your gentle wake-up call."

"The army's got _nothing_ on you."

"No? You like this better?" She leaned close and kissed his cheek, his ear, his lips.

"I think a lot more men would sign up for this kind of action," he replied, lifting her hair and kissing her neck, just below her ear.

"How was your nap?" she asked, rubbing his arms, letting him nip on her earlobe.

"It was quite refreshing."

"So you want your dessert before your meal?"

Auggie stopped for a second. "What did you bring?"

"I crapped out and bought pizza."

Auggie grinned. "Perfect. Pizza can wait. Pizza is good cold, if need be. I think we should have this _dessert_ you refer to right now." And with that, he reached over, pulling Annie into his hands and flipping her onto her back as he leaned down into the nape of her neck, breathing her in, kissing her more passionately, working his way down as he opened each button on her blouse.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The pizza was good, even at room temperature. Auggie retrieved a couple of beers from the fridge while Annie played with the remote to find a movie or something to watch. Auggie heard the narration of the action on the screen and smiled that she'd located the Described Video feature. He placed the beers in front of them on the tray and Annie passed him a plate with his pizza and touched a couple of napkins against the back of his hand.

This was how he wanted to come home and spend his evenings. He thought back to living alone, mindlessly passing the evenings away. He'd long since stopped playing chess with online opponents. It had lost something for him after he'd had a few good relationships to come home to. Now, he thought about teaching chess to his kids one day.

How things had changed.


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Covert Affairs. I do not own the characters of Covert Affairs. I make no money from them. That is all.**

Chapter Thirteen - Friday

"Annie!" Auggie shouted from the bathroom. He wasn't even sure where in the apartment Annie was, so he went with what worked.

"What?" he heard her from somewhere in the lower level.

"Do we have any more boxes?"

"Yuh, just a sec!"

He waited, searching along the shelves again. He'd miss the pattern of the shelves in this bathroom. Every level was different and yet ordered, he never had to search for anything, ever. There was no clutter; everything had its distinct place. Keeping his life to a bare minimum of junk and knick-knacks and extra things paid off in a new way. Annie had thought it wouldn't take any time at all, because he didn't have scads of things to pack, but she was wrong. The boxes still filled quickly, and they started worrying that they'd run out.

He heard her moving up the stairs and around the boxes he had stacked neatly near the stairs.

"Here are two more medium sized ones. How are you doing?"

"I have no idea anymore."

Annie looked around the bathroom. "It's looking pretty good," she said. "I've got almost everything that can be boxed from the cabinets. Now I'm getting hungry and we have no plates."

"Well, that's easily remedied." He stood up, automatically brushing off his jeans. "I'm ready for a break anyway."

Annie stepped close to him, her voice laced with a laugh as he felt her hands ruffling his hair. "They'll think we've been tumbling around in bed all morning," she told him. He immediately put his own hands through his hair, trying to tame it a little.

"Maybe it's time for a haircut," he mused.

She kissed him in reply and took his hand, and led him around the boxes and down the steps. At the door, she handed him his jacket as he picked up his messenger bag, his cane, and keys.

They walked slowly, enjoying the fresh air and the new leaves on the trees as they passed the green spaces. Auggie didn't care where they were headed, he was just glad to be out of the confusion of the apartment. He knew it would only get worse before it got better, but he was hoping to get through it in one piece. He'd never thought about moving house. He'd dreamed it, for sure, but the actual process of it had not entered his mind. Especially not doing it blind.

Annie stopped, just as his cane hit a stair, and then she stepped up, letting him feel each step she took up. She opened the door and let him through. His cane hit the next door and he found the handle and he pulled it open, letting Annie through this time, taking her elbow again as she passed.

It smelled like toasted bread, onions, fried potatoes, and Auggie's hunger grew. He followed Annie to their usual table and sat down. Two years ago, this lunchtime restaurant didn't have a Braille menu, but Auggie's repeated patronage had brought around some change.

"Hi, Auggie," said the server. "Hi," she turned to Annie, obviously not knowing her name yet.

"Ellen, this is Annie, my fiancé."

"Hi, Annie, I've seen you in here, yeah. Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Annie said.

"You're engaged! Congratulations, guys! Here's your menu, Auggie." Auggie felt her lift his hand and slide the menu under it.

He smiled up at her. "Thanks, El."

"Be back in a bit."

Auggie heard Ellen hurry off and he turned to Annie. "I like to say that," he said.

Annie grinned at him. "What? _Fiancé_? I can tell."

Auggie laughed, slightly self-consciously. "Obvious, huh?"

"It makes me happy," she said, and she reached over and put her hand over the one he had been using to see if there was a glass of water on the table. He grinned at her. "Now," she said. "Do you know what you want?"

"I'd-"

"Don't say me," she added.

"Why would you think I would be so saccharine as to say _you_," Auggie said, making a face, blowing off that he was about to say he wanted her. Which he had been going to. "I was so _not_ going to say _you_."

"You know I'm rolling my eyes at you, Anderson."

"I gathered as much," he said, conceding to her.

They ordered and ate slowly, taking their time before heading back to continue the tedious job of packing. Auggie knew he most likely wouldn't be walking down to this eatery anymore, and he kind of missed the place already. It was familiar. He had become very attached to the familiar.

On the way back, Annie jumped in on Auggie's thoughts.

"Overwhelmed?" she asked, concern in her voice.

Auggie tried to give her a smile that said he was fine. She, of course, saw right through it. She reached up and put her hand over the hand at her elbow.

"We'll get through it," she said.

"I know," he said. "It'll be fine. Just a bit daunting."

"Just wait until James comes. He's a sturdy guy, he'll start moving stuff and we'll be left standing without anything left around us."

Auggie smiled again. "It's just the chaos."

"I get it," she said. "I do. I'm going to help you out as much as I can. I won't let you fall down the stairs or over a box of toasters."

"We have plural toasters?" Auggie asked.

Annie gave him the benefit of a chuckle before she again put her hand on his at her elbow. She didn't say anything this time and Auggie knew she understood everything he couldn't express to her. They walked along together, and Auggie thought about how so much of their connection was like his hand on her elbow: not talked about, not marvelled over, just automatic and natural. They didn't have to think about it anymore, it just was.

Auggie felt much more determined once they returned, and he finished the bathroom and started in the closet. Shirt by shirt he folded and boxed, pants, ties, sweaters, socks, and underwear. His suits went into suit bags, and he put his shoes in another box. Each box he labelled in Braille, writing the contents below the label with a Sharpie marker. He was letting himself be a bit lost in his folding and organising, not giving in to thoughts of the weekend ahead, and the mindless activity actually calmed him.

Annie startled him when she spoke, leaning against the wall, watching him for a second.

"Coffee help?"

Auggie grinned and got to his feet, moving to her, his hand outstretched. "Ohmygod, yes." He felt her place the cup into his hand and he sighed audibly.

She sat on the seat along the wall outside the closet. "It looks so strange in here," she mused.

"Sounds strange, too," he added. "Empty." He moved over and sat beside her, putting his hand on her knee.

"I gotta go pick up Danielle," Annie said. "You gonna be okay here?"

"Yup. Go, get your sister." He patted her knee. He knew she was looking forward to seeing Danielle again. The girls had begged their mother to let them come visit Aunt Annie and Uncle Auggie, but Danielle had been tough, knowing they would be bored with the activity and would get in the way, but she'd promised that they would get to come see the new house once their aunt and uncle were settled.

Annie gave Auggie a kiss and pressed her hand on his shoulder before she headed back down. Auggie sat, listening to her get her things and slide the door open.

_Uncle Auggie_. It made him smile. He hadn't thought about the job of being an uncle very often. He hadn't taken it seriously. It had always warmed Auggie that Annie had such a sweet, close relationship with her nieces. He hadn't done anything more than send a gift and a card for the three nephews and the one niece he had. He'd only met two of them; his oldest brother already had two boys when Auggie was shipped home to his parents after Tikrit. He barely remembered them; that time had been too confusing for him to spend a lot of it with them. He sent them a card and a present at Christmas, and he never forgot their birthdays, making sure a card was picked out for each of the four kids, and run by him to make sure it was right before it was sent out.

Would it have killed him to Skype with them? Here he was, on Skype with children around the world, but his own family, he hid from. It had gotten so easy. At first, he blamed the job. Of course he couldn't tell them about his work, his travels, why he was out of country, why he disappeared for weeks on end. He couldn't take the time off work to visit because he was never off work. He'd never made the time. And then it had become habit, to _not_ go visit. When he did visit, he only stayed a day or two, barely long enough to see anyone. He'd gone home when his first nephew was born, but when the second one came along, Auggie had sent a gift and put the picture he received of the new baby into the mirror along the wall, near where he now had his turntable. The baby had stayed one single frame image of a baby in his memory forever. He'd put all _his_ energies into running around the world, gathering evidence to nab bad guys, and he'd nearly forgotten about the goings on in the Anderson families.

Nearly, until that bomb blast had sent him all the way back to Glencoe, where he'd struggled to come to terms with his new normal, where he'd closed himself off even more, not wanting them to see his pain or his struggles. After he'd gotten his feet back under him, had made his way back to DC, to Langley, to his own life, he continued that dark path of shutting them out. He'd gone back to excusing it on work, on the secret life of a spy. The fact was, that was no longer the reason. Auggie could bullshit about that stuff forever, he was able to deflect and create and distract, and he knew it. Instead, he still wanted to be the son they knew, the brother they beat up and taunted and teased, and he was scared to let them see he wasn't. He still wasn't comfortable interacting with his own family. He knew this was all his own doing. But shutting them out, he'd built a wall so that they couldn't see him. And the less they saw him, the less they were able to get used to his new normal. Even if they'd _wanted_ to, they couldn't get comfortable with the idea because he had never let them. And then he blamed them for being awkward, for the whole thing just feeling staged and wrong and forced, and so the whole circle started again, Auggie stayed away because he didn't want to feel that way.

He finished his coffee and put the cup on the seat, making a mental note to remember to take it downstairs when he went, and then he went back to packing.

The plan had originally been that they would stay overnight here, and Auggie still hoped they would. The furniture wouldn't be going until Saturday and Sunday, and they could clean out a lot of the boxes tonight. Decker had borrowed a half-ton with a cap on it for the evening, and they hoped to make several trips before it got too late. Then, Annie and Auggie could stay in the near empty apartment for one last night. Auggie found the more the apartment sounded empty, the more easily he was able to start releasing it. It started to feel less like his home, and more like a transitional place, and he just wanted to feel comfortable again. He thought if they stayed, and it didn't feel like home, he would be able to come to terms with not being there anymore, and be more focused on where they were _going_ to be. He wasn't sure about the situation Danielle had set up yet, but Annie had mentioned a hotel at the start. If they had their sisterly chats and got very excited about being together, Auggie knew he could be shunted to a hotel room before the two of them even got back to the loft. He was up against two women, two sister-women, and he knew he didn't stand a chance.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Their giggles announced them before they were into the apartment. Auggie readied himself on the back side of the island as the door slid open.

"Hey, Honey!" Annie said.

"Auggie!" Danielle cried out, and he heard her excited hopping from one foot to the other as she moved to him for an embrace. He laughed, holding out his arms. _Just like her sister_.

She hugged him tightly, and he felt nothing but affection from her. It made him smile, and it made him think again how silly, how stubborn, he had been to put that wall up between him and his own brothers.

"Well, you look a lot better than the last time I saw you," Danielle said. "And _congratulations_, ohmygod, Auggie, that ring is gorgeous!"

Auggie gave her a cocky grin, shrugging his shoulders. "You want a gorgeous ring, you give the task to the blind man. We know what we want, and we find it."

Danielle giggled. "You did a beautiful job," she said. "It's perfect, you've caught her exactly. You know her pretty well. More than I do, that's for sure."

"No, no, no!" Auggie said. "_You,_ dear Danielle," he began, looping his arm through hers and taking her to sit in the living room chairs, "will be providing me with many stories of the years of history you two share, about our sweet Annie here. I want the juicy stuff. We got all weekend."

Annie stood at the island. "Oh, no, no, no! You both have work to do, Buster, no time for stories."

Auggie felt Danielle lean close so he, too, leaned in, listening.

"Don't worry, Auggie, I have lots of stories, she won't be around _all_ the time," she whispered loudly, and Auggie laughed.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

By the time James arrived, the trio was surrounded by boxes and smaller pieces of decor that had come down off the walls. They were hungry, and very grateful that Decker had picked up the pizzas Annie had called in an order for. After introductions, they all sat amongst the boxes in the living room, eating from the pizza boxes and talking plans for the move.

Auggie could tell that James was unused to the laughter and comfortable feeling of family. He understood, having felt the same way for a long time. He knew James had the capacity to become close, he'd heard the stories of Decker's care for the kids he coached. James was acclimatising back to people, to friends, to teamwork. He kept pulling James into the conversation that was mostly monopolised by the females, and when he heard Decker laughing a few times, he smiled to himself, glad. He felt like he needed to make sure things were okay for his friend, having instigated the man's return to his old life, his new life, back in DC. As Annie had told him, Auggie felt responsible for _all_ his friends' well-being, he always had.

"Want any more?" Annie asked Auggie, taking another slice of pizza herself.

"No, thanks," Auggie said, sitting back, taking a drink of beer.

"Yeah, we should start moving stuff," Decker said, getting to his feet, heading to the sink to wash his hands. Auggie did the same.

Decker had parked in the loading area and he took the first boxes down to the truck while Auggie started moving boxes from the apartment to the end of the hall. Annie began carrying boxes and Danielle tracked down stray forgotten items as they moved things out of the way. The truck was filled quickly, and they all climbed into the cab, the sisters in the back.

The first trip to the house to a while, because both Danielle had to go around and have a look at everything with Annie. Decker checked the place out a little and then hurried back to moving the contents of the truck, to be joined soon by Annie and Danielle.

Annie caught her arm around Auggie's waist as she was heading out to the truck. "Okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Give me a job, Annie; I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, here." He'd just be in the way, trying to manoeuvre a box, a cane, stairs, unfamiliar terrain all while trying not to impede the others' progress.

"We'll bring the stuff in, and put it..." She looked at James putting a box on the floor to the right of the door, and she touched Auggie's arm, adding, "On the floor. Right here along the wall on the right of the door. You've got it all labelled, you smart planner, you. Why don't you take everything to its destined room? Then we won't have a huge big pile of stuff to deal with later. It'll already be sorted."

"You're a genius," Auggie said, patting her hand. "I got the house covered."

They worked as a team, and then James, Danielle, and Annie got back into the empty truck and headed back to the loft while Auggie continued to sort boxes into rooms. He was beginning to get a feel for the place, and he knew that the next couple of days would be difficult, but he didn't feel overwhelmed anymore. Everything happened in time. They were all there to help, and he would work through it the same way he'd worked through it today. Just like he worked through every day. He knew that thinking ahead to everything at once often brought on a huge bout of anxiety and the actual happening was not half as crazy or as chaotic as he had expected. Especially with Annie at his side. She grounded him nicely to the moment.

The previous owners had had cleaners come in to leave the house spotless for the new buyers. This had been a gift to them, and they both were more than grateful. Kenny had cleaned up from the work they had done, and though the house itself was closing in on a century old, it felt absolutely clean and new.

Auggie was coming back down the stairs from taking boxes to the bathroom when he heard the truck pulling back in. He'd put everything with a label that said _bathroom_ on i in the master bathroom, knowing he didn't have enough of anything to fill two separate ones. He figured Annie and Danielle would sort out the additional stuff while Dani was here, and he was glad to let them do it.

"Hey," Annie said, as they came through the door with another load. "How're ya making out?"

Auggie moved out of their way. "Good, I think. How are we doing?"

"Well," Annie started, sounding less-than-enthusiastic. "It doesn't look like we've moved anything yet back there." She looked around. "Or here. You have everything in the rooms?"

"Yup," Auggie said, moving to the boxes they had newly deposited. "Chop, chop, get a move on," he teased her, his hands sliding over the box he'd located, reading the label on it and picking it up, heading down the hallway, keeping his hand in contact with the wall on the left. They were now halfway to no-where, they had no comfortable home to come or go back to, they were past the point of no return now.

He was in the kitchen when Decker came in, setting his box on the island.

"Here's a beer, Man, think we deserve one now."

Auggie moved to Decker and held out his hand until it came in contact with the bottle. He felt the top and then popped off the cap, putting it on the island.

He sighed, leaning against the island behind him. "So how are _you_ making out?" he said, a laugh on the edge of his voice.

"Well, I think you have the easier of the two jobs," Decker said. "And I now know way more about _drapes_ than I ever dreamed possible."

Auggie laughed out loud. "Aw, come on, James, you must have enjoyed a little of that."

"I had no idea what half of it _meant_," he said. "I mean, do you know what a _swag_ is?"

Auggie shrugged, trying for serious. "Nope. All I know about are blinds."

He waited. He heard the start of a word, as if Decker had begun his sentence and then realised what Auggie had said. Auggie could not hold his face straight any longer, anticipating the reaction.

"Aw, Jeezus, Auggie."

He chuckled and took another drink of beer, letting his relaxed humour sit with James for a minute.

"Man, your life has sure changed since I knew you," Decker said somberly.

"Mostly for the better, Brother, mostly for the better." He turned and put his bottle on the island, finding the cap and pushing it next to it. James was quiet, contemplating this idea to himself. They heard the women coming into the kitchen and they turned in their direction.

"What's this? Break time?" Annie said, coming over and bumping Auggie with her hip, winking at James. She picked up the beer and took a drink, setting it back down in the same place with a sigh of contentment.

"Is this how it's going to be?" Auggie asked her, finding his bottle easily and taking a swig, as if daring her.

"This is how it's going to be," Annie replied.

"Aw," said Danielle to James. "Aren't they adorable?"

"Ho, yeah," Decker replied. "They're adorable all right."

Auggie smiled. He heard the laugh in his friend's words. "All right, enough of this-" He waved his hand in gesture to all of them. "Whatever this is," he finished. "I have a house to move into."

And so it began again, Auggie taking the delivered items to their respective places, and the other three lugging from the apartment to the truck and the truck to the house. The production lasted until about eleven and they all decided to call the night, so they'd be able to start early the following morning.

"You know Eric's friends?" Decker asked as they headed back to the loft.

"No," said Auggie. "It's gonna be a fun surprise."

"Great," said Annie from the back.

"Oh, now _where_ is your sense of adventure. In fact, I hope your sense of adventure is totally tuned up, because I bet you will be somehow involved in a discussion about role-playing games." He grinned cheekily, and the two women looked at each other and groaned, laughing.

They took Danielle to the hotel where she'd reserved a room. Annie walked her to the front desk to check in and Auggie rested his head against the headrest.

"I appreciate this, Brother," he said.

"Ah, don't mention it, Auggie."

"Well, I couldn't do this without help. I hate to have to put too much on Annie."

"Hey, Man, you can always call on me. Right? Always. Even if I don't know what to do, you can count on me."

They were silent again, waiting for Annie to come back.

"I'm glad you're happy, Auggie," said Decker into the silence.

Auggie turned his head toward him. He smiled at his friend, not knowing if there was light enough to see there in the hotel lot. "I am."

"I... can see that. It makes me glad. I don't really get it, yet, but... I'm trying, Man."

"I know." He paused. "I need you, Decker. I need friends. I need people outside to have a normal life with. I've kinda realised how much I shut myself off in my life, since I joined the Company. I've missed out on a lot. Normal things. Stupid normal things. I want to do them so much, Decker. Like you said, there are things beyond the Company, things I _do_ want to explore, but the best thing is, I can do both. _You_ can do both."

Again, silence, and they heard Annie's footsteps approaching. She climbed in behind them, closing the door. "Home, James," she said.

"You've been waiting to say that all day, haven't you?" Auggie asked her.

"Yeah," she admitted, a grin in her voice.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The room around them was hollow. The ornamentation and wall art had come down, and some was stacked along the wall downstairs. All the clothes were emptied from the closet. Even the bureau sounded hollow, somehow, from where Auggie sat.

"Feels so weird," he mused to Annie, who was brushing her teeth and walking back and forth from the bathroom to the bedroom.

"I know. How are you doing?"

"I cannot _wait_ until it's over."

"I mean, about this place?"

"I've been here a long time."

"I know. A lot has happened here."

"Yeah," Auggie said. "But it's time. I'm ready to move on, Annie. We need a new place for memories together. Somewhere fresh. This place... This place served me, in every way. It was perfect for me. But it's not perfect for us. That house, that's perfect for us. I'm looking forward to this. I can leave this place behind now. It was right for me to be here, it has good bones, it was easy for me to live here after I came back home from Iraq. But now, I can take that a step further. I have another... I have _a_ set of eyes," he smiled at his own correction, "to give me a little help, so I can move forward. I am _looking_ forward to this."

Annie climbed next to him, hugging close to him. "There is _one_ thing I'll miss about this place."

"Yeah, what might that be?" He turned to her, reaching up, trailing his finger along her collar bone.

"I'll miss how hot you look every time I watch you open that loft door," she growled.

He laughed, and he threw her back on the bed. "We can install one in the bedroom," he said, kissing her passionately. This would be their last night in B7. He wanted to go out with a bang and an echo.


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't own Covert Affairs because it is owned by Matt Corman and Chris Ord and USA Network. However, they don't own me, either, so I can write whatever I want.**

Chapter Fourteen - Saturday

"Wow," Annie said.

Auggie turned his head, breaking out of sleep. "What?" he mumbled.

"It's like sleeping in a warehouse," Annie said.

"It _was_ a warehouse," Auggie muttered to her, rolling over, draping his arm over her.

"It's bright over the bed. You don't have that thing hanging there. It's sunny."

Auggie smiled. "Woke you up, did it?" he said softly, nuzzling her neck.

"Yeah."

"You're right, though. It totally feels strange in here."

They allowed themselves a brief bit of time to just lie there, being in the apartment for the last morning. Auggie's fingers absent-mindedly stroked Annie's shoulder. The calm before the storm, he thought to himself.

"What time is Eric coming?" Annie asked.

"I told him to call before coming. I think he said he'd be here around nine."

"Good," Annie said. "Plenty of time for getting ready and getting something to eat. Don't want to go without some energy."

"Speaking of, is the coffee packed?"

"No. Why don't you go get a shower and I'll make some."

"I think I packed everything."

"Oh, well, that's okay, because I have stuff in my overnight bag. Just a sec, I'll get it." She climbed from the bed and Auggie sat up, listening to her move across the room and returning back to the bed. The sound of a zipper and some rummaging and then Auggie felt a small bottle appear in his hand.

"Shampoo... soap... and a razor. Oh, and your deodorant. And your brush. You are some lucky, Buster, to have such a thoughtful and well-planned woman by your side."

"Don't I believe it," Auggie said, leaning forward, finding her for a kiss.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Decker arrived first, and parked behind the building. He'd picked Danielle up at her hotel and Auggie hoped to hell she'd talked his ear off, because he needed that. Annie greeted Decker with a warm hug, and they all set to work as soon as Eric called and let them know he was on the way. They began taking boxes down to the lobby, and James took some of the easier furniture to manage.

As soon as Eric pulled into the loading zone, he set introductions in motion. Auggie shook hands with Red and Volter as they were introduced to him, and they all started working to get Auggie and Annie moved before the weekend ended.

The process worked well. James and Eric were able to manoeuvre the furniture down the lift and they got as much as they could into the cube van. Eric was a master of space packing, he could look at the area and the objects to go in, and mentally calculate the best way to fit each piece in like a puzzle. Annie commented at one point that had the spy game not worked for him, he could have got a job at a port, packing containers.

Once the van was filled, Decker, Auggie, and Danielle climbed in Annie's car with her, Eric, Red, and Volter took the van, and they all headed across town. Auggie secretly thought how mundane it all was, four spies, a black SUV, a white cube van, and the only bureau they were taking down was a heavy walnut one. He smiled. It was wonderful.

Unloading was a different story. Auggie didn't want to get in the way, so Annie and Danielle started piling the boxes into the alcove near the stairs for him to take upstairs, and they began working in the upstairs bathroom, unpacking the boxes that had been brought the night before.

Auggie could hear the grunts and instructions for moving various pieces into doorways as he carried box after box upstairs. He took the drawers out separately from the bureau and took them up so the piece of furniture would be lighter to carry. He heard them slide his Braille wall art along into the corner, carefully keeping the blanket that protected it tucked over every corner. It comforted him to know it was there in this house. All his things would be there. It would be strange to become accustomed to the house, but such a great comfort in being surrounded by the familiar at the same time.

Eric helped him to pick up the now-empty shell of the bureau and moved backward up the stairs, allowing Auggie to walk facing forward to feel the steps with his toes as they climbed. After they were at the top, it was simply just to be steered along as he carried the load to the bedroom.

"We're getting your stuff, too, right, Annie?" Eric called to her in the next room.

"Yeah, we can go over there and get it tomorrow. I want Auggie's stuff here the most. I haven't got as much, and I/m not as worried about it." Annie appeared in the doorway as they stood in the hall.

"Yeah, but we have the van. We may as well get it all. I mean, assuming you aren't using it there... as a... you know..."

"No," Annie said. "We're cleaning it out. It's just an apartment," she said.

"Well," Eric said, looking around. "You're going to have a lot of empty space without it. Just saying."

"You're right, Eric," Annie said, reaching out and patting him on the arm. "We can use that stuff here. We have more than enough space and who wants a guest room without a bed, right?"

"I don't," Danielle said from the bathroom. "I'm not sleep on your floor when I come."

"Nobody's sleeping on the floor, we'll get the bed and the other stuff from my storage unit."

"We're going to make this place a home," Danielle said. "Not a place you stay. You both need a _home_ to come home to.

"Big sisters," Auggie said with a smile, turning, following the wall to the stairs. Barber was ahead of him, laughing.

"You're in for it, you know, Dude," Eric said over his shoulder.

"Oh, I know," Auggie sighed, resigned to the idea.

The next trip, Eric drove the van and took James, Red, and Volter back to the loft with Annie's keys. Annie and Danielle continued setting up parts of the house they could, moving down to the kitchen to start working on the cupboards and drawers. Annie explained to her sister exactly how to put the plates and bowls away. Danielle admired the shelving, and admitted she wouldn't mind the arrangement in her own kitchen. Annie leaned in, showing her sister a picture on her phone that she'd taken of the cupboards in Auggie's apartment.

"Can we try and get this as close to that as we can?" Auggie heard her say as he made his way back upstairs to hang his clothes and organise his closet, and wait for the van to return. He smiled to himself. She would make sure.

Auggie was just finishing getting his clothes put away in the closet when he heard the van once more unloading and moving heavy object back up onto the verandah and in.

"We left Decker and Volter at the loft. They were taking apart the bed and moving the fridge and stuff," Eric said, pulling in a chair. "They were talking about Warcraft when I left."

Auggie grinned. What he wouldn't pay to listen in on that conversation.

"I will admit I may have prompted it." Eric slid the chair a little so it would be out of the way. "You know... just to get the ball rolling. I hated to see an awkward silence. Poor Decker, he really looked at me with gratitude as I left."

Auggie laughed. "You are torturing the man," he said.

"Aw, Dude can handle it. It's good for him."

Auggie followed Eric back to the door. "Anything I can help with?"

"Uh, no, we got this load, Auggie." Eric climbed into the back of the van. "Oh, wait, here's the bar stools, I'm passing them out to the bottom of the steps, okay?"

"Thanks, got 'em." Auggie said, finding the stools and folding his cane, sticking it in his back pocket and taking the stools to the top of the stairs and then in through the door.

He found the island in the kitchen and slid the stools into their place. He kept one hand on the seat for a moment, his other hand on the island. Annie and Danielle were talking about Danielle's business, which she'd left in the care of her assistant. Auggie listened to their conversation for a minute. Annie was so different than a year ago. But she was so similar to the woman he'd fallen in love with years before, and the easy relationship she was enjoying with her sister right now mirrored the relationship she'd shared with her sister before. He rubbed his finger back and forth on the countertop and then pushed off, heading back along the wall to the front door.

"This isn't gonna fit in this door," Eric was saying. "Hey, Auggie, man, is that patio door wider?"

"You're asking me?" Auggie said.

"Well... uh, yeah. It's kinda _your_ house, Dude, I thought you'd know."

Auggie tried to keep a straight face. He was not sure if he managed, he couldn't see Eric's reaction.

"I'll have a look," said Red, running around to the side of the house.

"They're wider," Auggie said. "It's a double door."

"Ah, I knew you'd know," Eric said, his voice giving away the grin he had tucked away there.

"Yeah!" called Red. "They're double doors!"

"Thanks, Red!" Auggie called, turning.

"No problem," said Red, moving past him down the stairs. Auggie had spoken a few times with Eric's friends. Of the two, the one named Volter was the more approachable one, or at least the one that seemed to have some sort of understanding of the non-gaming and non-superhero world. Auggie had no idea if that was his last name or a nickname, but he _did_ know that he was not going to ask. In the van, Volter and Red had been having a conversation that Auggie struggled to discover if it was about real life or the game. His decision kept swinging as the conversation moved along. He wondered if Eric was holding back on joining in. However, again, Auggie kept quiet. The Red fellow was tall and moved fast. The Volter fellow was a big guy, and could lift pretty much anything. He was not going to risk upsetting the Zelda world they were living in.

"Here, Auggie," said Barber. "These are your trays. They're almost piled on top of each other. Some didn't fit inside the rim. Do you want to take them all?"

"Can I? I mean, are they manageable?" He moved down the steps and put his hand out, stepping forward to Barber's voice.

"I think so," Eric said, holding them out so Auggie could feel to see if he could take them all at once. "You can take them however you want."

Auggie took the trays and turned back to the stairs, again feeling out with his foot. He carefully climbed each step, keeping his hip in a light contact with the railing. The door was propped open, and he moved straight through it, only brushing the door frame with his knuckles. He headed straight down into the kitchen, where he slid the trays onto the counter, and Danielle made room.

"We're hungry," Annie said.

Auggie raised his wrist and popped open his watch, feeling the hands. "Yeah."

"Picnic?" Danielle asked.

Auggie narrowed his eyebrows. "We don't have anything."

"You're kidding me, right?" Danielle asked, touching his arm. "Do you possibly think that a caterer would come to any event where there was no food planned without planning some food?"

Auggie pretended to be chastised. "No," he said, meekly.

"Good. Because I happened to bring a sizeable picnic basket and a cooler. I'll go set something up, and as soon as the van comes back the next time, we'll have a break."

"She's a big sister _and_ a mother, Auggie. I wouldn't mess with her."

Auggie laughed. "Yes, but have you seen Eric eat? And there are two more of them. Did you think of that?"

"Oh, don't you worry," Danielle said, poking him in the chest as she passed.

When the van had returned again with all four men, Danielle had a nice little spread out on a blanket on the verandah. Annie gave Auggie a run-down and then made him a paper plate and gave him a napkin. He sat on the stairs, leaning against the cross-tie of the railing, and listened to his friends. The day was warm, the birds were singing. The sounds of traffic and industry were muffled out by the trees around the property. This wasn't a moment in time. This was how things were going to be. He ate a piece of cheese and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. He heard Annie move beside him, sitting down.

"It's really pretty hard to believe, isn't it?" she said.

"I'm trying," Auggie said. "It's funny how it's as hard to believe something good has happened to you as it is to believe that something bad has happened to you. Some things just take time getting used to." He lifted his head and opened his eyes. "But I couldn't be happier than I am right now."

Annie tucked into his side and he put his arm around her, careful not to upset the paper plate on his knees. "This is it," she said. "After all that crap we endured, it's way easier to know now we are in the right place."

Auggie nodded. "It makes it even more amazing." He turned his head. "Barber?"

"Hey-oh!" Eric replied from up on the verandah.

Auggie couldn't stop the grimace that automatically crossed his face, but as this was not a professional workplace, he let it pass, though he heard Annie laughing. He turned to her and raised his eyebrow, and then turned back to Barber's whereabouts. "How much is left back there? How many more trips?"

"We still have the fridge, the dishwasher, and a couple of the bigger things. All the boxes are here now. Then we can start at Annie's. You guys need a table. Actually, you guys need a barbeque."

Auggie raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Everything we need and it's a barbeque that you've deemed the most important?"

"Well, yeah, come on, Auggie. Perfect place like this, summer coming up, a verandah. I'm expecting you and Annie to be hosting barbeques all the time, which I will of course, be invited to. Hey, I'll do ya one better, I'll even do the grilling."

"Uh, thanks, Barber," Auggie said.

"Anytime, Dude."

Auggie was never quite sure how much Barber was pulling his leg, and how many times he actually was serious. At first Barber just seemed to say whatever awkward thought came into his head, but over the years, somehow, thought Auggie, he kind of got the feeling Eric was taking the piss out of him.

They had a pleasant picnic and then got back to work, unloading the van one more time. Chairs, sofas, the television, every piece was moved and carried by the guys and placed near where they were to stay. The house was beginning to sound less hollow, but there was much more to manoeuvre and Auggie was starting to feel overwhelmed at the mess that lay unknown around him. He wasn't sure what he should do; moving around the house was difficult, he didn't want to get in the way, he didn't know how to help.

He was standing by the patio doors, next to the stove, listening to the activity, his hands resting on his cane, when Annie moved close.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said back.

"What a mess," she said.

"I see that," he replied.

"They'll make one more trip and then they'll help us move my stuff. At least then we have enough to put in two bedrooms and two bathrooms."

Auggie already had a sort of lay-out in his head, and when he spoke his ideas to her, she was, as usual, for the most part in total accord with him. There were a few things he acquiesced to, but they'd mostly agreed. Auggie had shaken his head, pursing his lips to cover a smile, as he'd tried to glower at her.

"We can't be this in sync," he'd said.

"We always were this in sync," she'd replied.

There was no denying that.

Now, she put her hand over his and squeezed, holding them there. "We're getting there," she said. "One step at a time. We're doing awesome, just so you know. I didn't think, when we started today, that we were going to get this far. Your nerds may talk in foreign geekspeak but they can move a house like nobody's business."

"Hey, they're not _my_ nerds," Auggie objected. "They're Eric's nerds."

"Yeah," Annie teased, "But Eric is your nerd, so they're yours by default."

"I'd like to offer up some opposition to that."

"But you can't. Face it, Auggie, like I told you before, _you_, my darling husband-to-be, are the leader of the dork brigade. Smart lot, but very strange."

"But you'll still marry me, even though?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Annie said, giving him a kiss.

"Oh, hey, sorry guys," said Barber, not noticing or just embracing and accepting a little PDA by his boss and his fiancé. "I was just wondering, do you want us to take the bed upstairs now and put it together, or after? 'Cause we can do it now, like, Volter said he can put it together no prob."

"Yeah, yeah," Auggie said, waving Eric back. "That's great. I appreciate."

What he wouldn't do to be able to put his own bed together as easily. But he stopped that thought. He wouldn't give the rest of this up to be able to do that. It took time and a little bit of humble gratitude and appreciation for good friends, but he wouldn't give any of it up.

"Come here," Annie said, taking Auggie's hand, and he moved along with her out the double doors onto the verandah. She let him find the railing with the back of his hand holding his cane, and they moved together down the stairs. He let her lead him down the grassy slope that wasn't as steep as he thought it would be and then she stopped, placing his hand up on a tree.

His hand felt the rough, craggy bark. "This is an ash tree," he told her.

"How do you know that so fast?" she asked him, sounding slightly incredulous. "All you did was touch the trunk1"

"Annie, all I _ever_ do is touch stuff to know. Also, was an Eagle Scout, remember? Characteristics of foliage and fauna and all that. An ash tree has this kind of trunk. It's got clefts and it feels like tree scales. Moss sometimes grows from between them. Listen." Auggie pointed a finger upwards. "It's tall, and wide like a tent over us. I can hear the leaves over there, there's a branch that canopies down, isn't there? They do that. You said there's a willow over there somewhere?"

"Yeah, to the left. It drapes down, too."

"Great shade spots for the sunbeaters," Auggie mused to himself.

"There are twigs everywhere under here."

"Yeah, they do that, too," Auggie smiled. He took a deep breath. He felt calm again. And it excited him to think that when he was tense or anxious about work or Annie on a mission, that he could come out here whenever he wanted, and he could listen to these trees above him and know that it would be okay.

After that, Auggie just let everything happen around him. He listened to the banter, he listened to Annie and her sister remember things from different homes they'd moved into, he heard Decker's calm exasperation with Volter, who had decided that James's silence was that of agreement on every subject he brought up. Auggie grinned, noting that the gamer arranged it so that he and Decker carried things in as a team. At one point, James had said, "No, I don't know the game you're talking about," which only incited Volter to give him a complete run-down on it. After that, James went back to being quiet, only giving out instructions when he had to.

At around seven, after a load had been brought from Annie's apartment, which she had pretty much cleaned out and packed up anyway, she and Danielle took her car to go pick up several pizzas. Red and Volter were upstairs putting Annie's bed together in one of the spare rooms.

Auggie had helped them get the refrigerator and the dishwasher into place, though he wasn't certain how much help he'd been. But the kitchen was starting to feel like a kitchen, maybe even like _his_ kitchen. The fridge was humming in the corner, and Barber christened it with a six-pack of beer.

Auggie was heading to the front door again, ready to move some more things out of the way so they could move the long, low credenza from the side wall of the loft to the office. James followed behind and moved to the far end of the piece of furniture. Auggie slid the red chair over and side stepped an end table of Annie's. His foot encountered a small object and he twisted to keep his weight off of it, but his balance shift caused his hip to hit something hard, and Auggie felt himself in slow motion bouncing off of whatever it was and losing his balance altogether. He flung his hands out to grab anything to break his fall or hold him up, but only felt something smack against his forehead as he hit the floor.

His first reaction was to swear, and try to right himself and sit up. He turned, sitting, pulling his knees up as he felt a wet trickle on his eyebrow.

"Shit," he said again, hearing someone scramble over to him.

"Hey, Man, you okay?" It was Eric. "My hand's right out in front of you, Man." Auggie reached up and came in contact with Eric's big hand, and was hauled back up onto his feet.

"Jeez, Auggie, are you all right?" Decker said from somewhere on his left.

"Thanks, Eric," he said, humiliated. No, he wasn't humiliated. He was livid. He did _not_ want to fall on his face in front of Decker. The man was just starting to get that Auggie was no invalid in any sense of the word. He'd started to realise that Auggie was as capable as anyone. But he'd just witnessed blindness at its most humiliating.

"Yeah, you're bleeding, there, Auggie," Barber said. "Should probably patch that up."

Auggie reached up and felt the warm blood running down into his eye. He swore one more time and then felt for a chair. Finding the back of the red chair he'd just moved, he sat.

"Can you get me something to mop this up?" Auggie asked.

"I have a first aid kit in the van," Barber said. "I'll just go grab it."

"No, it's okay, I just need a tissue or something." Auggie was adamant that this was nothing. But he had a burning feeling in that place above his eyebrow, and though he pressed against it, he couldn't find the shut-off valve. He heard Eric hurry out the door and then the sound of the van door slamming and Eric's footsteps thudding back.

Decker said nothing the whole time, but Eric talked enough for all three of them. He sat beside Auggie, whose humiliation kept him silent. "Okay, Dude, I have some antiseptic towels here, I'm just gonna clean you up. You know, this isn't as bad as it looks. It seems to have hit a main; you're bleeding more than you're actually cut, there. Here, hold your finger out. Here's some antiseptic cream. Put it on there. Good. You don't need those good looks anymore anyway, Dude, you got your woman."

Auggie rolled his eyes and quirked his mouth in a slight grimace.

He heard Eric unwrapping something and then another swab at his forehead and Barber put a butterfly closure to keep the cut closed.

"Here, wipe your eye and side of your nose, Man, or Annie will think Decker beat the crap out of you while she was gone."

Auggie was still too angry at himself to laugh. He should have been more careful. He knew this place was a trap of chaos, he knew he wasn't geared to manoeuvre with ease and safety here. Not yet. Probably not for a while. And they'd all seen this massive crash-out. He hadn't had one of these for a long time. He knew Barber had witnessed a few smaller ones, and Barber had learned to ignore and also to prevent in the first place. But he was still Barber's boss. He still wanted to keep some semblance of grace and ability.

"Ah, don't worry about it, Man. You don't think I haven't whacked the hell out of my head on things? I'm like, eight feet tall. Well, no, that's an exaggeration, I lie, I'm actually six-foot-four, but I may as well be eight feet tall sometimes, because I forget that I'm taller than I should be. We all got our crosses to bear. We all run into shit sometimes. I can't help being tall, you can't help being blind. Why don't you go clean yourself up? We'll see if we can't manoeuvre this son-of-a-bitch in there by the time Annie gets back."

Auggie stood, silently thanking Eric, making his way down the hall to the bathroom.

What he heard behind him both irked his pride and touched his heart.

"Poor Auggie," James muttered.

"No, don't worry about him, Man. Dude gets around like he's set with full-body radar. It's just gonna take him a bit to get this place down. Man, I thought I was in for something when I first walked into his office, I didn't know how he was going to be a good boss. He showed me pretty fast. Don't feel sorry for him, Dude. Look around you. Auggie's got it made, Man. You never saw him in his old place, but if you saw him in his natural habitat, as I like to think of it, you know, we all got 'em, if you saw him there, you'd never know Auggie can't see. You'd never guess it. Really. He won't run into things in a few days, he's too stubborn to not have it mapped out to his memory. Really. Trust me on that one. Don't underestimate that man."

Barber. Of all people. Eric Barber was his biggest champion. He finished washing his face and then took a deep breath, and then went back out to put things right.

Annie and Danielle returned shortly, just as the two men had managed to get the large piece of furniture along the wall of the office. The smell of pizzas filled the house when they opened the boxes on the table they had brought from Annie's. Danielle made a path around the table and Annie had just brought in a bunch of napkins with she saw Auggie's forehead.

"Oh God, what happened, Auggie?" she said, peering up at him.

"Little wrestling practise with some of the furniture." He rubbed his knee and then his elbow. "It won."

Annie pressed her hand on his cheek and then she leaned up and kissed him. "I'll kiss it better later," she whispered.

Sometimes, even an accident was fortuitous, thought Auggie with a grin.

"You'd better get some pizza," Annie said, "because Eric is already on his second piece."

"I'm a big boy," said Barber, his mouth full.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

They worked for a few hours more, and then they finally admitted exhaustion and got their stuff together to go home. Except Auggie and Annie were home, but they had no amenities set up, so Danielle convinced them to come back to the hotel room with her. Auggie was too tired to argue and all he wanted to do was sleep anyway, so after locking everything up and setting up the plan for the following morning, they drove back to let Decker pick up his car, and then headed back to the hotel in Annie's car.

Auggie took a couple of painkillers for the headache he had swarming behind the cut on his forehead, and passed out in the bed in an adjoining room to Danielle's. Annie stayed next door with Danielle for a while, letting Auggie get some sleep, before she snuck in and tucked herself in beside him. She worried about him, but it would soon all be over, and they could start being comfortable in the house that Annie already had grown to love.


	15. Chapter 15

**I, sadly enough, am not the creator of Covert Affairs. I make no profit from the loving care I give to its characters. The characters, however, profit, because they get to live on, and not be lost in an uncaring network's hands. And if they think I will give up ever trying to get them back on some sort of screen, they can **_**Coach**_** my **_**Degrassi Full House X-Files**_**, and if they don't like that, they can **_**Suits**_** themselves and **_**Twin Peaks**_** their **_**Chrisley Raccoons**_**. That is all. Enjoy.**

Chapter Fifteen

Something sounded wrong in Auggie's sleep. The sound, or lack of sound, or something about the way the air was moving, or not moving, was enough to pull him out of his slumber. He automatically opened his eyes and turned his head a little, listening. His fingers crept over the crisp starched sheet that never felt like home. The room was closed in. A hotel. He groaned and rolled over, feeling the muscles in his back protest against any movement. He also felt a warm ache in his knee from yesterday, and he reached up and felt the butterfly closure over his eyebrow, still bruised and no doubt a sweet touch. He let his hand drop back to the sheet and closed his eyes for a few more minutes.

A warm hand slid over his back, just lightly rubbing his skin, but it felt nice. He embraced the moment and after a bit she traced her hand along his neck and over his jaw and cheekbone. Her fingers stopped near the cut and she lightly caressed his temple.

"Not even our first day in," Auggie said.

"I'm sorry I missed it," Annie replied.

Auggie scowled and turned toward her, ready to say something about something, but Annie kissed him, and took him by surprise.

"This is going to happen. I hope you don't take headers off the tables anymore, but I'm prepared to mop you up until you get this down. Don't worry about it."

"If you saw Decker-"

"Hun, _you_ didn't see Decker. You may just be imagining this reaction you _think_ he had."

"No, I can hear it."

"Auggie," Annie said. Her voice was soft and strong. "Why are you letting a five-minute moment give you perspective on the whole day? On the whole experience? If I tell you I fell on top of Danielle in the upstairs bathroom yesterday when we were trying to get the shower curtain up, would you feel any better? I mean, we're moving house, Auggie, people are bound to get hurt." This last part was spoken with a hint of a smile in her voice, and then she cheekily added, "If I hadda taken a bet, though, Auggie, I hate to tell you..."

He gave her a sardonic half-smile, rolling his eyes, and pulling her in his arms.

"I'll use the cane," he said.

"You'll get it. It's a mess, Auggie. We'll get it."

"Will it scar?"

Annie peered at Auggie's forehead, then she smiled at him. "I don't think so," She said. "Give Barber my regards on that sweet bit of First Aid. That guy keeps surprising me."

"Me, too," Auggie said, softly. He wasn't sure if he wanted Annie to ask him to explain. He was relieved when she didn't. She just pressed her hand on his wrist and then the bed shifted as she slid across her side to put her feet on the floor. She yawned and shuffled across the floor to the bathroom and Auggie listened to her as he mentally organised his thoughts for the day. He would make it through this ordeal with Annie at his side. Like he always had, they just worked together so well, no matter what it was they were doing.

And, thought Auggie, this time, there weren't any assets to chase, any motorcycles to outrun, or any gunfire to avoid. This was just a move. Everyone did it, every day. It was an exciting and wonderful and normal thing to happen. As Auggie thought about the trees in their lot and the wood stove for cold days, he could hear Annie singing some post-Grunge tune he vaguely could pick out as she showered, preparing for another day to make their home together a reality. She was all-in. He smiled, standing up, deciding that it was probably a better idea if he joined her in the shower to save some time, or something like that.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

They all converged one more time at Auggie's loft apartment at nine. Annie and Danielle set to a sweep of every possible forgotten corner, and then they took Red and Volter in Annie's car to go over to Annie's apartment to have everything ready for Eric to pick up when they had finished at the loft.

Eric and James set to work on removing Auggie's safe from the wall. Auggie listened as Barber worked, careful not to cause undue damage to the wall. Auggie remembered the sound of Calder Michaels hacking into the wood with an ax to discover Auggie's secret locked inside. That was where the whole plan they'd constructed had gone sideways, and it was also what led Auggie to trust Michaels in the end. _With Annie's life_.

Calder had stayed off Auggie's case since they'd come back from Tokyo. He'd gone from being suspicious of and impressed by Auggie, to angry and retaliating toward him, to begrudging conspirator with him, and now, to just giving him his need-to-know, and letting Auggie do the successful work he'd always done. They acknowledged each other, they accepted that opinions were had, and they shook hands.

Auggie heard the sound of the heavy safe moving away from it's bracing. He stepped in and grabbed a hold of the front and the three men carefully set it down on the wheeled dolly.

"Good job," Auggie said. "How's the wall?"

"Not bad," Barber said, proudly. "It'll look virtually untouched. Maybe you had an electric problem in there years ago, and someone did some work," he said, the story already forming.

Auggie nodded at his friend, a smile on his lips.

The work was finished, the apartment empty. Eric and James cleaned up any mess they'd made in the last bits of work, and then Eric put his hand on Auggie's shoulder.

"We'll take this last stuff down, Auggie. Come down when you're ready."

Auggie nodded, not turning toward him. "Thanks, man," he said, and listened to them wheel the dolly and take the last armload out the door.

He turned his head, listening to the apartment as it lay dormant around him. The soul that had been in this place was waiting, waiting at his new home, waiting here for new tenants. He ran his hand along the countertop of the island. So much. So many feelings. He'd found this place only a few months of moving to DC. It had been newly renovated from a toy factory warehouse to loft apartments and Auggie had had to get Joan's cover letter to even get his name in the door. It had been perfect, secluded, quiet, and the perfect bachelor pad. And by that, it was not too much upkeep, since he was rarely home and even then, spent much of his time working on computers. It was masculine. It was spacious. It had been perfect.

It had been less than ideal in a few ways when he had come back here after living at his parents' home upon returning from Iraq. Though he _knew_ what his apartment looked like, he had no idea how it felt. The stairs had given him trouble, he had not felt sure about them and that hadn't helped him overcome them. He'd had a mobility instructor come around to show him what to do to make it better. She'd called it _Life Skills_. He thought the name was too much for him. He thought of it instead as upping his covert skills, how to move safely in darkness. He grew confident again in his apartment. It was safe. He knew where those stairs were, how many there were, how they felt as he reached the top and the bottom. He'd found Kenny then, and with his mobility instructor, they worked out some of the details on making the apartment suitable for him again. He'd found art to fill the silence of the walls: sculpture, music, and textures.

And now, it was empty. Auggie walked its perimeter, running his hand along the walls. Just like always, life moved onward, and Auggie adapted. People adapted. He would do it again, with the new house—the new _home_. He'd be able to run up and down the steps and make his way easily from the kitchen to the living room and out to the verandah, where Annie would be waiting, ready to tell him how her sky looked. He moved slowly to the door and put his fingers on it. He took a deep breath, and stepped out into the silent hallway, and then he turned and pulled the loft door shut, one last time. Annie and Danielle would be over in the week to give the place a good scrub-down, but Auggie had no reason to come back. His life had moved beyond this place, and as he walked back down the hallway to the stairs at the end, he felt a bubble of anticipation sitting under his ribs, and he smiled.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

They returned to the house and things got busy again. Eric kept the safe under wraps, and he and Decker would return once more to Annie's apartment and the storage unit to take her own safe quietly out of its hiding place. They would have to install them somewhere in the house, but Barber and Decker would take care that the other two men didn't see them and question their existence.

Auggie felt the wooden case shelving that had been pulled along the wall in the corner of the living room. Annie had placed his hand there, and told him it was the perfect place for his vinyl. It was wider than most bookcases, and Auggie's turntable would fit perfectly on top with space to spare. She pushed two boxes against his foot and set him to do whatever he needed to do to start getting this place set to rights.

"Isn't this kinda small in the scheme of things?"

"Small to whom? Music is nothing small, is it? We'll need music to make everything else go along. I don't know how you want it set up. It all counts, Auggie. You think I feel I'm making a huge step in our comfort by putting away spoons?"

Auggie sighed. She had a point. It was _all_ important in the makeup of this house. The records were his, and she wanted him to arrange them in their house. Let Eric and Decker shift the awkward pieces. Let Red and Volter drop the heavy things on _their_ toes. In the end, all that mattered was that they would all go home and what he had here was all his and Annie's, and they would take care of all the finer details themselves.

Running his fingers along the edges of the records, he took care and time, enjoying placing his music in its new place. As the smaller boxes were emptied, there was room to arrange the larger pieces. Auggie took part with Annie and James, rearranging the living room until it felt right. Auggie counted the steps from the wall. It wasn't quite right yet. Annie agreed, and they moved the pieces a little more.

Eric took his friends home. Auggie reached into his wallet, counting the money in his fingers, but Barber pushed his hand away.

"I got this one, Buddy," he said.

"No, Eric—"

"It's my housewarming gift. I'm your Best Man, remember?"

Auggie dropped his hand, and his face lowered, a humble smile evident to Eric. He nodded, taking a breath, letting it out. "Thank you, Eric." He had learned sometimes that to accept help was to accept friendship.

"Don't worry. I'll make it up in steaks later on. Barbeques, you know?"

Auggie laughed, patting Barber's arm as he walked the taller man to the van. He thanked them all again and then waved as they headed out the driveway. He turned. It had been three steps from the stairs. Three steps back, his cane touched the stair, and his hand found the railing. He smiled, climbing the steps, his mind already easily replaying the beginnings of a map.

"Annie?" he called out.

"Here, Auggie," she called, approaching down the hall, and soon her arms were around his waist as they walked back toward the kitchen. He had learned his lesson, he kept his cane in front of him. Annie placed his hand on the curve of the countertop and leaned beside him against the island.

"How's it looking?" he asked.

"I have hope," Annie said cheerily.

"I have cookies," Danielle announced.

"I'll take either," Auggie sighed, realising they were all hungry. "We don't, per chance, have food and cold things and something to eat in this kitchen of ours?"

"We have cookies," Danielle repeated, sounding a little peeved.

"Why don't we just go get some sandwiches or something at the little market back at the corner? We could walk," Annie suggested. "It's not that far."

"Hello! Cookies!" Danielle interjected.

"Danielle has cookies," Auggie said, not turning.

"Yes, I heard," Annie replied.

Auggie shook his head, pursing his lips. "We could probably eat some of them," he suggested.

Annie grinned at him, and then at her sister, then she reached out and put her hand on Auggie's arm.

"First, sandwiches. Then cookies. Come on, Danielle, let's go. I want to take a stroll. You guys want to come, or wait here?"

Auggie stretched his neck muscles. A walk would be perfect to stretch the tight muscles. "No, let's go, that sounds great."

So, locking the door, the foursome took to the street. It was a beautiful May day, and Auggie could feel the sun's strength. He listened to Danielle and Annie describing the neighbourhood as he quietly did his own subliminal note-taking. Annie knew what he was doing, and she gave him info at specific moments and didn't ask him questions or distract him too much. Instead, she asked Decker about the possibility of coaching kids at soccer here in DC, and Danielle was interested to hear, as her own daughter Chloe was involved on a soccer team in California.

When James talked about the kids, his whole being seemed to light from the inside out. Auggie, while concentrating on mapping this new route, could hear the joy in Decker's voice. He wished he could have seen James coaching those kids. Or heard it. He wasn't picky. He just knew that his friend had things that would balance him out, and he hoped James would want that balance here. Sometimes it's easier to keep thinking one does not want anything good to balance out the bad, but Auggie knew that was a cop-out. It wasn't betraying their friends to laugh and to enjoy things. It wasn't betraying the war-zone you fought for, nor the people lost on the way. Having good moments didn't diminish the bad ones, it made them hurt less. It made the reasons for the good moments even more valuable. And that made the bad moments worth sticking through. Decker needed to come out the other side, and Auggie was sure that he had done this already, just coaching soccer. The whole Belenko thing, the whole _Auggie_ thing, had set him back a long leap.

"Corner," Annie said. "Here's the crosswalk button on the pole." She placed Auggie's hand on the box and then he took assessment of where it was placed in the sidewalk, through using his cane. He nodded to her. "Got it?" she asked. He nodded again, and they set off once more.

"Are you really gonna be able to walk here on your own?" Decker asked.

"Sure thing. It's just going to take me a few trips with someone until I get my landmarks straight," he replied.

"That's really great, Auggie," Decker said.

"Yup," Auggie said. He didn't know how it was _great_, except that he never would be as dependant as some people he'd met in rehab, and he guessed that was probably as _great_ as that would get. Other than that, it was just living. But he knew better than to round on Decker about any of it. It wasn't what he could _tell_ James Decker, it was only what he could _show_ James Decker. Patience was a virtue. Fortunately, that was something Auggie had learned in full since being blind, and he had it to spare for his friend who needed it.

After another block, they found what Annie had seen earlier: a little sandwich shop that catered to the early and late lunch crowds. Annie notified Auggie to the step and the little group entered the bright café with the tall windows and looked around.

"Ahhh, this is nice," Annie said, and they stepped toward the glass cases filled with freshly made sandwiches. "It's like a little bistro, Auggie. You can have soup and a sandwich or... excuse me?" Annie turned to the woman at the counter. "Do you have menus or is it all listed there?"

The woman turned, "The daily specials are here, on this board, and the regular items are listed here on this."

Auggie sighed. This was not going to help him when he came in by himself. He'd have to memorise their regular items and then ask for the daily specials. No big deal, just more work, as usual. Annie read the whole list to him, and then gave him the specials while Danielle and James ordered theirs to go.

When they all had their orders, they thanked their servers and jingled back out the door. Annie had both their lunches, and Auggie took her elbow again as they mapped the way back home.

_Home._

It surprised him every time it dawned on him that this was now. It was his new normal. And this time he loved it.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

James stayed well into the evening. They ordered Chinese food and he had gone to pick it up while they cleared the table and actually set places. They had two table chairs and the two bar stools, so the sisters sat at the table and Auggie and Decker sat at the island. It made Auggie feel very happy to hear Decker relaxed, laughing, being teased by Danielle and Annie. Friends and family at their house, and he and Annie were the hosts of this new phenomenon. For a fleeting moment, he imagined what his parents would say to this so-called-normal activity. For a moment, he'd thought about feeling like an adult. He wasn't _playing_ house, which he had been with Helen, nor was he trying to cover up that he wasn't playing house, like with Parker. This was the real deal. And there were even homemade cookies made by the soon-to-be-sister-in-law for them to eat out on the verandah while they continued to enjoy each others' company. They could offer a beer to their guests. It was quite an achievement, thought Auggie.

James left around eight. Danielle stayed until about ten, and then took a cab back to her hotel. Annie and Auggie had offered their unmade spare bed, but she declined with a laughing sneer.

"Your first night in your new home together? Yeah, I'm not stupid enough to want to intrude on that," she joked. "Maybe by the end of the week, once I help you made this place actually look like a home instead of a summer camp. And you need ice cream, by the way. There's no excuse, that's a beautiful refrigerator you have over there, plenty of room." She smiled and gave her sister a huge hug. "Okay, please, please, please call me if you get called in, but otherwise, I'll be here around nine?"

Annie nodded. "Yup, that's good. And I'm not going near the place until I have some semblance of organisation around here."

"Auggie," Danielle said, stepping toward him, and he put his arms out and kissed her on the cheek. She gave him a warm hug, too.

"Thank you, Danielle," he said. He hoped she could see on his face how much her coming to help them meant to him, not just for himself, but that she had come for Annie. He was grateful that the bond they had between them had not broken, and that time had heeled the rift that had formed.

Annie walked Danielle to the front steps as the cab arrived and Auggie listened as Annie closed the door behind her, walking toward him. He smiled at her, putting his hands around her waist, then letting one trail up her side to her neck and her cheek.

"Welcome home," he said, softly.

"I was just going to say the same thing," she said back.

Neither one of them could contain the smiles that broke out on their faces. Auggie could feel Annie's smile under his hand. She leaned to the side, and he wasn't sure what she was reaching for, but then she put his hand on her elbow, and moved along the hall, switching the lights out as she went. He knew she carried his cane in her other hand, he'd heard it hit the wall as she turned off the lights. He slid his hand down her arm until they held hands as they climbed the stairs together wordlessly.

Stepping across the threshold of their bedroom, they each felt the moment together. Annie squeezed Auggie's hand and led him to the bed that she and Danielle had made up. The room was still in disarray, things resting against the walls, but Annie had made sure it was clear on the floor and that it had some kind of feeling of home. The furniture and the clothes hung in the closets took away some of the echo that she knew Auggie found disconcerting, and he appreciated it more than she knew, just as he appreciated that she pulled his T-shirt up over his head, as he raised his arms.

"Just a sec," he said, walking across to the room to the closet, his hands out, carefully making his way to a box he'd set on the shelf over the clothes rod. He found it easily, and slid it down, turned, and retraced his steps back to the bed where Annie waited.

"What's this?" she asked as he put the box in her hand.

"I found it when I was cleaning stuff out. I don't really have any need for these now, but... open it."

She opened the box and put the lid beside her on the bed. He heard her laugh a little and then she looked at him. "Your Braille flash cards?"

"You said you wanted to learn. We kind of got away from it."

"I do," she said, and she looked back in the box. There was a large stack of the cards inside, and Auggie knew them all by heart. The majuscule and the minuscule alphabet, key words, names of countries, punctuation, mathematical equations, all made to the touch. He knew there was no print on them, instead, the letter was printed like a typed letter only with raised bumps. Below that, the corresponding Braille symbol helped transcribe one idea to the next. Below that, a row of bumps in a line on the bottom, so the learner could tell which direction the card went.

Under the cards were Auggie's beginner Braille slate and stylus. The slate was slightly larger than the size of a postcard. He kept a full size slate for writing his own Braille, but he mostly typed everything up and then printed it at work on the Braille printer Langley had provided him when he needed a hard copy. Still, it might be nice to practice with Annie, to keep his Braille-punching skills up-to-date, and to make sure he still was a fast at mentally reversing the symbols as he punched them into the paper.

"Maybe we'll have a speed contest one day this summer," he said, wanting her reaction.

She took his face between her hands and kissed him, long and hard, and then gently pulled his face down to rest his forehead against hers. "I'm... I'm so touched, Auggie. I _will_ learn this for us. I'm glad you kept these." He heard emotion in her voice, and he nodded, letting her feel as well as see his encouragement. "I... it kind of brings me closer to how it was for you back then. That this was new, and that you... you accomplished it and don't need them any more. I'm a lucky woman, having you by my side. I never have to worry about failing, or falling under the waves, because you're stronger than I am. You will always get me through everything, because that's how you do it."

He smiled at her, stroking her hair. She moved her hand down to his shoulder and kept it on there while she slid over to put the box on the nightstand case at the top of the bed. Then she slid back down and he felt her reach to him again, and in return, he did what needed to be done: he pulled off her T-Shirt.


	16. Chapter 16

**I do not own Covert Affairs or the characters within. I do have them in my foster care, though, since their real owners no longer care about them. I feed them well, and give them plenty of exercise. If I had the money to do so, I would give them their own home so that they would be able to continue on their own. However, until that time comes, and we can find them a home, I'll continue to foster them with plenty of care.**

**Thank you to my reviewers. Every review makes me excited to write more. I don't know why this works, but when there is enthusiasm, I just want to give you more to be enthusiastic about.**

**To Kaywise2: Your reviews bring me great joy. And if I were to end my story, I would give everyone a good fair warning that it will be my last season (story), in plenty of time to get used to the idea. However, I don't feel the need, as I don't foresee stopping anytime soon, unless people stop reading, reviewing, caring. And happily for me, this doesn't seem to be happening any time soon, either. I hope. KEEP LOVING COVERT AFFAIRS, EVERYONE! And now back to our regular broadcast.**

Chapter Sixteen

"Have you seen James?" Joan asked into Auggie's office.

"No," Auggie said, pulling his headphones down. "Not today. I thought he was on an assignment for you."

"He was," Joan said.

Auggie waited and Joan said no more. He took the headphones off and stood, his hand sliding across his desk to pick up the laser cane.

"Be right back," he said to Barber and Holman as he followed Joan back to her office. She closed the door as he stepped through, and hearing her cue as she walked around her desk and sat down, he located the chair in front of her desk and sat himself on the edge of it.

"Have you talked to him?" Joan asked.

"What, today? No."

"No, I mean in general, about Belenko's arms deals."

"Oh, _that_ kind of _general_. Yeah, I have, actually. I warned him not to go off on his own. I think I even played the blind card, Joan, I wasn't above it to keep him close to me."

"Do you trust him? I mean, really, now?"

"Yes. I do, with my life."

"But will he do as we want him to and _not_ go rogue on this one?"

"Question is, _where_ is Belenko? We haven't tracked him yet. Just the weapons, which we've proved go back through Cuba and down from the U.S. He's got bike gangs running them through here. And yet, _none_ of it goes back to him. There are rumours of him here and there, and yet, no-one we've talked to has seen him. We've searched the network, he hasn't been seen in Russia for months, and since there has been some control and peace along the Ukraine border, he's been laying low. There's something fishy happening. Why isn't he moving now, while the area isn't being focused on so closely?"

"That's what I've been wondering. Everything started through his connections and now not one of them has seen him in at least five weeks. If we act now, we get the team players, but not Belenko and whomever he has in his pocket."

Auggie sighed, thinking.

"Auggie, he still has it out for you, Decker, probably Annie"—"

"I know." The little worry seed that had sat quietly in the back recesses of his mind started a root.

"I just need to know Decker won't do anything foolish."

Auggie was quiet. Could he vouch for Decker in this, for certain? He scrubbed at his forehead and eyes in frustration, then tipped his head back, as if waiting for an answer to drop from above.

"I'll talk to him," he said.

"If you can find him."

"I'll find him."

"Auggie?" Joan said as Auggie stood to go. He paused, turning slightly. "Please, be careful."

"Always am," Auggie said, moving to the door, sliding his hand to find the doorknob. He pulled it closed behind him, and headed back to his office to try to track Decker's whereabouts down. He also called Annie.

She had been home for the past three days with her sister, doing the things that women liked to do when they acquired new living spaces. He was glad that they had been able to spend the time together, and he was also grateful that he didn't have to do things like choose drapes and paint swatches. As they worked, they both kept Auggie in mind, both in the design and in the organisation of the rooms. Each night when he had come home, they'd had questions, and had wanted his opinion on many things as they worked through the house.

Auggie had had his own acquainting with the house every night. As rooms were finally settled into perfect configurations, and things were placed where they would stay, Auggie had taken his time to map everything into his head. He moved through each room as he had before, only this time, with the furniture in place. He felt each piece, and anything that was resting on top. He felt the lamps, the walls, the tabletops. He'd had a hand in where he wanted his sculptures to be, and they'd conferred with him about anything he'd be using daily, if it was okay, if he'd wanted anything changed. They had made no major decisions or moves without him, and he felt completely like he was a part of the process, without having to worry about the stuff that he wasn't so good at.

Every night, he worked on putting his home to his memory. And the more he explored with his hands and feet, the more the house came into his mind as a picture. It was like paint strokes appearing on a blank canvas, every sweep of his hands over a surface or a wall or a detail, the house became real, whole, and no longer disjointed.

"Stop watching me," he'd told Annie and Danielle one night as he was going through the kitchen for the second time." He wasn't angry about it; he was merely letting them know in his way that he knew that they were, in fact, watching him.

"How does he know?" Danielle had asked.

"He has a fifth sense about it," Annie replied, and Auggie had laughed, remembering he had told her that ages ago.

Danielle was quiet, puzzled maybe.

"You _can_ laugh," Auggie said. "It's clever."

"You guys are weird," was what Annie's big sister said.

"You're the weird one," Annie retorted.

"Nice comeback," said Auggie.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The phone rang twice, and then Annie picked up. "Hey, Babe? What's up?"

Auggie grinned at the casualness of her greeting. "Hi. I'm just checking in, actually."

"Checking in, or checking up?"

"Both."

"All good here. Danielle and I... oh, no, you'll see when you come home," she teased.

"No, I won't!" he sang back to her.

"So, what _are _you calling about, Auggie?"

"Just keep your eyes open, Annie."

"Why?"

"Don't worry about anything. I just want you to keep a lookout."

"Aleksandre?" Annie asked.

"Yeah. Just... We haven't found him, and everything else is coming up empty. And now I can't find James."

"Oh," Annie said.

"Listen, don't worry, and for God's sake don't let on to Danielle."

"No, no prob, Auggie. He'll be around before you leave today."

"Yeah, I hope so. You want me to bring anything home?"

"Nope, we and by we I mean Danielle is making something up right now as we speak."

"My stomach's already growling," Auggie said, and hung up shortly after goodbyes.

He tried Decker's phone again. For two and a half more hours, there was no answer, and then finally, to Auggie's increasing anxiety, Decker answered. Auggie huffed out his relief, and then asked Decker's whereabouts.

"I'm just coming in."

"Come find me," Auggie said, hanging up, and closing his eyes in frustration.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Auggie?" A tap on Auggie's door and Auggie turned.

"Is that you, Decker?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Hey, come in. Where've you been?" Auggie pushed away from his desk and folded his hands.

"I was chasing a lead."

"You haven't checked in, Man."

"I lost track of time."

"Look, Decker, I like the initiative you take to follow up on things, but I need to know. You need to check in, Buddy. As your friend _and_ as your handler."

He heard Decker grab a chair and slide it over, sitting.

"Auggie, if I think you're in danger, you can't brush it off, okay?"

"What are you talking about?"

"He's involved in more than just this weapons trade. He set up a false company out of Grozny. It's supposedly to bring in herbal remedies. Health foods from all over. It was just blown up."

Auggie leaned forward, his brows knitting together. "Blown up? How did you find this out?"

"I've been using an old contact in the city. He's been out of touch for years, but he recently started sending me encrypted messages through a Zodiac site about this place. He said they were bringing in through the back door. Not just guns, not even just bigger things, but bio-warfare."

"Who blew it up? When? Why didn't you bring this to me, to Joan, as soon as you got the intel?"

"I was about to. And then I received intel that Belenko was killed in the blast. I don't believe it."

"What about the bio-weapons? Were they in the building then? Was anything released into the population?"

"No-one knows. According to all the records, there _were_ no bio-weapons. Just wheatgrass and tinctures and goji berry pills. They don't know if the stuff was smuggled out before it went up, or if it stayed there. Not one account of seeing anyone come or go. Belenko has been underground, but then word went out he was there. I don't know if any of it is true. This was why I didn't want to tell you yet. I didn't have any proof, and I didn't want to lead you into something that proved completely false."

"Damn it, Decker, I can't have you going rogue on me."

"I was always coming to you with this, Auggie. I just had to check it out first. I knew Joan wouldn't believe me without proof of something more. She just thinks I'm out for revenge."

"And you're not."

"No. I'm on our _team_, Auggie. I'm not going to jeopardise you, or Joan, or this place. I was coming with this information to _you_. Because it matters. Because I'm not on this one alone."

"No, you are not." Auggie slid his chair back to his desk, and began typing. He started bringing up every report he could find on an explosion in a building in Grozny, and simultaneously calling Joan in on the phone.

"Joan, you should probably come down here," was all he said, continuing his search.

When Joan walked in, Auggie started right in with what he'd learned, calling Eric over in the process. Decker added any information he could to Auggie's details, and Auggie gave Joan the information that was feeding through his display. There had been an explosion, and three bodies had been recovered. None were identified as Belenko. Auggie checked the ownership records of the building, and it was registered to an Ortsa Maskhadov. The name brought up nothing but a couple of business records and transaction records, empty information. There was no other appearance of the name in any travel or passport records.

When they'd compared reports and dug up anything related to the business and explosion, Joan left to apprise Calder Michaels of the situation.

Auggie continued to work, his fingers tapping the keyboard and then reading the Braille display as it flickered under his fingertips. Calder Michaels had been the one who had saved Auggie and Decker from Belenko's final attempt to take them out. Calder Michaels had figured it out at the last possible second that Allen Langer was in the building and had taken Auggie and Decker inside an interrogation room, locked them in, and nearly killed them with poison gas. He would need to know that his operatives and the department could be in direct danger once more.

"What do you want me to do?" Decker asked.

Auggie shook his head. What Decker was doing was exactly what he needed to be doing. And yet, Auggie didn't want to let him out of his contact. He trusted Decker implicitly, but he was afraid to let his friend do this one on his own.

"Can you make your contact again? Do they have anyone inside?"

"Not that I've gathered. I'll keep trying." Decker got up and slid the chair back over across the room.

"Decker?"

"Yeah, Auggie?"

"That was good intel. You did right."

"We'll get him, won't we Auggie?"

"You bet."

"Are you and Annie going to be all right?"

"Are you kidding? We are a team that shouldn't be messed with." He winked at Decker, and gave him a reassuring smile. "I promise, Decker, we will be okay. And we'll get Belenko. His time's coming."

"Yeah, well, I'll be checking in with you until he is."

Auggie nodded. This worked both ways. "Please do," he said, waving James off, giving him what he hoped was a look that said it would all turn out okay for them.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Hello!" Auggie called as he entered the house.

"Hey, Auggie," Annie answered him from somewhere in the kitchen area. Auggie veered and counted his steps to the left, finding the alcove by the steps, and putting his keys and bag on the tray they'd put on top of the credenza that had fit in so nicely. He took his chances, folding his cane and putting it beside the bag. Then he moved along toward the kitchen, keeping contact with the wall.

Annie stepped into his path and put her hand against his chest, stopping him. He wrapped his arms around her hips. "Hey," he said. "It smells good in here."

"That would be my sister's work. We're so lucky we get to have her feed us our first week in our home."

"I hope she'll teach us things before she goes," Auggie said, setting his gaze where he thought Danielle was standing.

"I hope you're a better student than Annie," Danielle replied.

"I'm pretty hopeless," Annie agreed.

"You just need to pay better attention," Danielle instructed. "I truly don't think you're hopeless. She's really not _that_ bad, Auggie."

"She just has better hopes for you," Annie added.

"Well," said Auggie, "I have killer microwaving skills."

"You guys are in sad trouble," Danielle said, turning something on and moving something off the stove. "I swear, if it's the last thing I get in before I leave, one of you will be able to cook something decent."

Auggie laughed and rolled his eyes, and Annie shook her head and leaned forward, bumping it against Auggie's chest in defeat.

She leaned back again, peering into his face. "I can't wait any longer," she said. "Come on, I want to show you something. Danielle? Come."

Annie took Auggie's hand and led him to the double doors on the side of the house. She opened them up and he followed her through, Danielle several steps behind.

"Ta da!" she said.

Auggie shook his head, pursing his lips. "Looks great," he quipped.

"Come'ere, Silly," Annie teased, pulling him gently toward her, and taking both his hands and putting them on a thick chain link.

Auggie stepped forward, exploring the chain link, following it up, then down, where it split into two chains, which in turn were attached to a metal bedspring frame. Auggie's face broke into a smile, and his hands ran along the narrow mattress on the frame, wrapped in a very soft blanket of some kind. He stepped down the length of it, until he reached the other end, where two pillows lay against the heavy chains that ran up to under the roof of the verandah, and then he turned with a look of wonder and happiness.

"Do I dare ask?"

"Thrift shop," Annie answered. "And the hardware store. We worked on it all morning. What do you think?"

Auggie was more than happy. He reached out and hugged Annie, and then he waved a hand to motion her sister in. Moments later, she joined their hug and Auggie couldn't stop grinning.

"I think he likes," Danielle said.

"I love this. I love you, and I love you," He leaned forward and kissed Danielle's cheek, and then he leaned toward Annie and she kissed him back.

"It makes it feel more ours," Annie said as they went back in behind Danielle, arm in arm. "It's really becoming ours."

"Every day," Auggie said. "It's even starting to smell more familiar, more like us."

Annie stopped, sniffing the air. "Really?"

"Really," Auggie nodded. "Well, except for right now, when it doesn't smell like our cooking at all."

Annie laughed. "Come on, help me set the table," she said. "We found two more chairs so we can have guests now."

"Nice," Auggie answered, following her around the island, out of Danielle's way. He got the plates down and three wine glasses. The path was clear; the work he'd been putting in at mapping the house was already paying off. They had the table set presentably in no time, and Danielle was finishing preparing the meal.

She ushered them into their seats after they'd washed up, while she dished up their plates.

She served them each a salad, made with grilled almonds, spinach, and strawberries with vinaigrette she'd made herself. Then she brought in lemon chicken on a bed of basmati rice, seasoned with thyme and ginger. As she brought in each dish, she gave Auggie the lay-out and a brief description of his meal. Like her sister, Danielle had no trouble incorporating Auggie's needs into her regular actions. There was a plate of hot croissants, and stuffed peppers on the side.

"You're staying here all month, right?" Auggie said after they'd all begun eating. "This is beautiful, Danielle."

"Thanks, Auggie. I should take you home with me to show my family how to appreciate my cooking. And save room, there's dessert."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie and Annie thanked Danielle as she climbed into the taxi later that night. She was only there for one more full day, and Annie and Auggie were grateful for all the help she was giving to them. The house was beginning to have some organisation, there was art on the walls, furniture had been added where it was needed, thanks to a few trips to an antique store and a thrift shop they'd found. Auggie appraised everything that appeared under his hands, his fingers sensitive to the planes and curves and fine details that the others could see immediately.

Annie and Auggie walked hand-in-hand back outside to try the hanging bed swing wit their wine. Auggie sat on the end with the pillows and Annie sat beside him, after putting their glasses nearby on the deck of the verandah. He put his arm around her.

"Is it dark yet?" Auggie asked.

"Not quite. Still evening light."

"What do you see?"

"Just our trees. I can sort of see some glow over to the right from the city. No stars yet."

"And the roses."

"Yes," Annie said, the smile evident in her word. "The roses."

Auggie smiled, too. "I can smell them. I know they're still blooming."

They sat like this for a moment, and then Annie broke the silence. "So, you're worried about Belenko," she said softly.

"Yeah," Auggie said, and he sighed. "James came back with some information." In a soft, low voice that could be mistaken as quietly romantic, Auggie gave Annie the details of what they had learned from Decker's contact. Annie never moved from beneath Auggie's arm, just listening as he outlined what they knew.

"I'm glad Danielle is going home on Friday," Auggie said. "I don't want her to be in on any of this."

"What if he already knows?" Annie asked.

"I still don't think he's here. Not yet."

"But if he has someone... like Langer... doing his research."

Auggie had thought of that, too.

"The sooner she's off the radar, the better," Auggie said. "Though I don't know what we would've done without her this week."

"I know. She's really been our supporter all along, Auggie. She knew me before I knew me."

"Yeah, I know that. I'm glad she told you straight off, and put the idea in your head that maybe you had something for me. She's a smart woman. But I like her sister more."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to rush her off, but I don't want anything to happen to her, Auggie. Should I tell her to go tomorrow? We could probably switch it."

"No, one more day... it's fine. It's going to be fine. Decker is going to be on your tail tomorrow, though, and I _am_ sending someone with Danielle for the flight home. Just to get her there safely."

"Are you gonna tell her? Because she's pretty clever, you know. She'll think the bad guys are following her and somehow it's all going to come back to me to sort out."

Auggie laughed. "I'm gonna tell her," he said. "Just for safety's sake. I won't tell her there's a reason. Because, right now, there isn't."

"But if the weapons hideout we can't find has become a bio-weapons hideout, there may be more than just a sister to watch out for."

"Yeah, I wasn't trying to think that one," Auggie said soberly. "But, yeah."

Annie was quiet. Thinking.

"He doesn't know we're here," she said. "Not yet."

"I don't know," Auggie admitted. "Right now, we don't know anything. He could be dead in that explosion. I just really doubt it."

"What was the name again?" Annie asked.

"Ortsa Maskhadov," Auggie answered.

"And you definitely know this is his cover?"

"Not an ounce of proof, and yet there are several key witnesses who have stated it."

"I'm scared. For you and James."

"Well, I'm scared for you. I don't want you to take any risks, just like I told Decker. Until we can get a trace on him. I just don't get why there is absolutely no intel coming in at all. Someone would have seen him leave that place. What name is he travelling under? I think he smuggled himself through Cuba, as they lifted the bans. I think he was in South America, waiting for the air to clear. But after that, I have no idea."

"Joan and Calder?"

"Working every angle."

Annie groaned. "It won't happen tonight."

"No," he smiled into her hair. "It won't happen tonight. Tonight is ours."

"Good. Because a star just came out."

Auggie automatically looked up. "Is it the Evening Star?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Actually a planet," he told her.

"I know, Dork."

Auggie chuckled. "Got me."

"There's another one," Annie said.

They sat out as Annie watched the sky from under the verandah, counting the stars as they appeared, until there were just too many. Annie shivered, and Auggie tugged her tighter under his arm. They finished the wine, and then they headed inside.


	17. Chapter 17

**Covert Affairs and its characters are not owned by me. This doesn't stop me from a) writing about them, b) dreaming about them, c) thinking about them, d) thinking about writing about them, dreaming about marrying them, e) sobbing my heart out over them, f) hoping they will somehow come back on my screen.**

**That being said, enjoy!**

Chapter Seventeen

"I like this," Annie said from the other side of the island.

"And by _this_, you're referring to?" Auggie asked, finishing his cereal.

"All of it. This. You and me, eating breakfast, sharing the morning. Getting ready for work. Neither one of us having to wear the same clothes or needing something from our own place. Driving in to work together. You know. _This_." She'd walked around the island and tapped his chest as she ended the sentence.

"Oh," Auggie said, smiling. "_This_."

It had been a few weeks that they had been in their house, and while there had been a few hitches, they both were really becoming comfortable being homeowners together. They'd worked out what needed doing daily and had mostly delegated jobs. Mostly. There were still a few minor details to work out.

Danielle had left them at least at a beginner-capable level of preparing meals for two people. They had both been living on their own for so long that neither one of them ever did much more than snacking on mini-meals and eating out.

"You have another person to take care of now," she had admonished them both.

She was right, of course. They had to stop grabbing food on the run, and have meals like real people. Danielle had hugged them at before she left, telling them it was nice that her children were finally growing up. Auggie kind of felt that way, too. He'd thought about the idea of this for so long, it felt like such a huge step and accomplishment. And everything about it felt right this time.

"Did I do it right?" Annie asked, tapping a piece of heavy paper on Auggie's hand.

He took it, flipping it over and running his hands on her latest attempt at punching out a random word he threw at her. _n-e-f-a-r-i-o-u-s._

"It's all right," he said. "Perfect Grade One Braille."

"I don't think I'll catch on to more than Grade One Braille, Auggie," she said.

"I'm not asking you to," Auggie said, catching her hand and pulling her toward him. She reached up and took his jaw in her hands, guiding him in for a kiss.

"Tonight," Annie said, without adding anything.

"Tonight what?"

"You'll see," she said.

"No I wo-on't," sang Auggie, back at her, receiving the customary smack to his shoulder. He grinned at her. "You're making me wait?"

"Of course. That's what spies are good at. We wait. We wait and wait and wait and—" Her words were muffled out by Auggie, who had brought his hand up behind her head and pressed his lips into hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and _hmmmm_ed contentment to him.

Auggie was always slightly reluctant to break away and head in to Langley. While he loved his job, he could imagine just staying in this beautiful home all day with Annie, doing as they pleased. He knew that realistically, he'd get bored pretty quickly, and he knew realistically that they'd probably just end up on each others' nerves after a while. But it still made for a very compelling daydream.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"We can't search _every_ warehouse on the Potomac," Auggie said. "Time is passing, Joan. What other means do we have?"

"So, how do we set up a deal if we don't even know if they're here?" Joan asked.

"We send Decker down to the last known gun deal. He can infiltrate a bike gang. Find out where they are coming from before they cross the border. If we can find the key holding warehouses, we can hopefully find Belenko, _and _his delicate cargo. If it's here."

"That's a lot of _ifs_," Joan stated. "Too many _ifs_."

Auggie shrugged desperately. "He's here. It's all coming here, Joan, and if you don't stop it, it's all gonna go bad, really fast. That whole Russian thing, it was only a front. His bigger picture was more than Russia, more than Ukaine. His biggest goal is here. And he gets to take Decker and me down at the same time, it's a perfect set-up."

"Auggie, you know I'm concerned for you _and_ James. I'm not taking this lightly. But we've moved into different territory. We don't _know_ anything. We don't even know for certain that there was such a thing, or _if_ it left that site before the building blew up. There are no details; our two men over there haven't turned up anything. No-one knows, or no-one is talking. Why is it that Decker's informant has such different information?"

Auggie had had the same thought. He'd rolled it over and over in his head.

"Do you know who his informant is, Auggie?"

Auggie raised his face to her. "No. I don't. But don't ask me again if I trust Decker. I trust him with my life."

He heard Joan pause. He tried not to let the dismay show on his face. Instead, he set his plan in motion.

"We just have to go in and find out," he said. "I think we should send Decker."

"Belenko knows Decker."

"The biker gangs don't know Belenko. He's not been seen, even _heard_ of, in those circles. They only know one name."

"Ortsa Maskhadov," Joan said.

"Yup," Auggie said.

He heard Joan sigh.

"Joan," Auggie started, raising his hands to the side. "What else? Decker _knows_ Belenko. If he's here, Decker will know."

"And you think James Decker will leave it at that and let us take him in?"

Auggie chewed his lip. He remembered that slim moment as his mind went from killing Khani in his anger for killing Jason and Chris and taking his sight, to a moment of clarity to do the right thing. _Don't do this, Auggie_, she'd said. He'd heard her. He knew he wouldn't be the same man if he'd killed Khani then in cold blood. It would all be for revenge. He thought back to Decker, and he knew it would be the same thing. They needed Belenko alive, and Decker had to give up his own feelings for the better of everyone else. Did Auggie trust Decker? He thought about it for less than a second.

"I do," he said, sincerely.

Joan was quiet for a moment. Auggie listened as she moved across the room and then turned. "This one's all on you, Auggie."

"I'm okay with that."

Joan waited until the grin she felt at the edge of her lips subsided. "So what is your plan?" she asked, moving back towards him.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Decker was to go in as a patch member from the north. He needed some credentials and some history, so that any inquiries would be substantiated. He would be looking to be recruited to the Corpus Christi chapter of the Skulldiggers, and the Agency supplied him with a motorcycle, which Auggie knew had cheered Decker up considerably, and cash and stash to spare. An insider in the local Skulldiggers chapter had managed to get him the patches and a signature to address Decker's jump from north to south. Decker had been a boxer, a street fighter; he had the brawn for the part. He would be stamped with a Club tattoo which would last the week. He knew the trade. He had the background to know their details. They would just be wrong about the side he'd learned it from.

Auggie drilled Decker about all the things he had to remember, that he absolutely had to _not_ do. Decker assured him repeatedly that he would ship the bastard back to Langley in rough shape but he'd still be alive.

"We have two of our guys going in behind you. They'll stay out of sight," Auggie said, making physical contact with Decker again to reorient himself. He heard the instructor moving back their way again, and he once more did the three steps in attack and held his position as they had been asked. Then they relaxed, and did it again.

Auggie had convinced Decker to join him when he'd re-taken up his Judo classes. He promised Decker a hot instructor and a new set of calm skills for fights. He'd told Decker that he'd learned a lot there, because hand-to-hand fighting was really all he could manage properly now, and Judo took the best of that and made it even more powerful.

"When it all comes down to it," he'd told Decker, "this is all we have. Stripped down, last resorts, last person standing. What we have left, we need to perfect."

So the two of them, clad in their _gis_, attended their classes together twice a week and practiced in the gym at Langley at least once more a week. The positioning training, while important, especially for Auggie, who couldn't watch the examples in front of him, was monotonous. They did the preparation moves without actually throwing their partners at all until well into the exercises. Decker was getting used to Auggie's constant re-orientations and also to letting Auggie know exactly where he was, in practice and in rest. Auggie never commented. He noted it quietly and gladly.

The one-on-one time gave Auggie plenty of space to make it clear to Decker that he was working as an arm of their team. He read all the signals he was able to from Decker and he knew that the man was loyal to him. He'd never once had that fear he wasn't. Decker had wanted out, but he'd never once jeopardised any of them. He may have turned away from the Company, but he'd never put any of them in harm's way. He'd never turned on them. He'd been staying quiet, living a smaller life that gave him a reason, and Auggie admired him for it.

Auggie turned back again, as the instructor had them sit to do floor routines. They were taking turns pinning each other by different means and turning out of each lock, and Auggie wasn't giving any breaks. He wanted to show Decker he was no slouch, fighting blind. He had a thought that maybe Decker would really get to witness Auggie's fighting skills in some action combat, but then he shook the thought from his mind. He wouldn't be in action; he was staying back, being Decker's handler and directing the traffic, as it was to be.

"I can't believe you got Joan to consent to your plan," Decker said as they headed back to the locker room to shower and change.

"I'm a persuasive guy," Auggie said, shrugging. He was glad he'd been coming to this studio before and knew the layout of the locker room.

"No shit," said Decker.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Annie?" Auggie called, folding his cane and putting it on the credenza in the alcove in the staircase. He felt and heard the paper he set his cane on top of in the tray, and he touched it with his hand. Braille. A smile painted his face immediately.

_Grab a wine glass, first on the left._

She'd written it perfectly, with punctuation, but not contracted. He moved to the kitchen, listening, but he heard nothing. He reached up to the shelf where the wine glasses were, easily retrieving the first one on the left by the divider. He took it down and again, felt a piece of paper curled into a tube, stuck in the flute.

_Better bring a fork_, it read. He moved to the island and pulled out the drawer, and sure enough, there was another sheet of paper lying over the forks.

_The swinging bed has secrets._ Well, thought Auggie. Give the woman an idea, and she really takes it to the next level. He moved along the wall and skirted the stove, making his way to the double doors. He stepped back out into the warm evening air, and then turned, his free hand running along the length of the mattress. Nothing there. He slid his hand up the chains holding the four corners, and as he reached where they joined together on the nearest end, he found another piece of paper tied with a string to the chain.

_Take the stairs and when you reach six steps down the lawn_

_ Listen._

Auggie wondered if he should go back and get his cane. He smiled and shook his head. He trusted her. She was here, somewhere, watching him. He found the railing and began his way down the stairs. Taking a breath, knowing there was nothing there to run or fall into, yet still feeling wary, he took six steps down the lawn, and then stopped, listening.

At first, all he heard was trees above him. The wind was painting the landscape above into an image in his mind, the sound swirled over from right to left, although down where Auggie stood, the wind was only a breeze. He could hear the willow to his left, and the ash to his right, the wind combing their long branches and leaves. And then, softly, he could hear music. It got louder, and he turned his head, trying to get a better angle on the sound. Jazz music. He didn't recognise it. He felt a presence beside him and a tap on his shoulder and he turned his face to her.

"Hey, handsome. Care to dance?" she said in a soft voice, first taking the glass and fork from his fingers, and then taking up his hand and placing the other around her back.

"You're putting your feet at risk, dancing with a blind man," he said.

"I'll risk it," she replied. "It's worth it."

Auggie felt her body pressing against his, her temple against his cheek. His hand resting in the dip of her back felt the light fabric of a summer slip-dress, and her skin was warm. She smelled like grass and mint and coconut, and there was another smell, like capers and garlic, somewhere in the air. A robin was singing into the evening just above them, to their right. Annie said nothing, her breathing was calm and steady and her hand holding his was strong as the love she felt for him passed though it into his own hand. Every touch conveyed something. She always kept a tactile connection with him, she had from the start. He felt her head tilt, almost rubbing against his cheek, and he was reminded of a cat, taking all the affection it could from a loving touch.

As the one song ended and another set started up, Annie led Auggie a few steps to the left and then she sat, still holding his hand, so he knew to kneel down beside her. He felt the blanket under his knees and smiled.

"A romantic picnic dinner for two?" he asked, hearing her pour the wine and then feeling the flute of his glass touch his hand.

"Is there any other kind of picnic dinner for two? Cheers." She chimed her glass to his.

He raised his momentarily, and then took a sip.

"So, we have a crisp Cæsar salad, on your nine, and in front of you is thinly sliced fried chicken breast with a spicy crispy side. I used paprika."

Auggie's mouth opened to express his surprise and then he closed it again. Then he gave it a third thought and replied, "You made all this? Yourself. Tonight."

"I told you you'd have a surprise."

Auggie pretended to look around. "Wait. Is Danielle here? Danielle?"

"No!" Annie laughed, tapping him in dismay. "It was all me! I read a recipe and everything."

Auggie sat, as if stunned, a smile dancing around the corners of his mouth. "Incredible," he said.

"Auggie!" she groaned. "Can I finish?"

"Please," Auggie said, raising his hands in defeat.

"Okay, thank you. There is potato salad on your three, and if I'm not mistaken, you may find it to be exceptionally perfect."

"I find _you_ exceptionally perfect. So this is bound to be wonderful. It smells pretty good, that has to mean something. It can't taste bad if it smells good."

"I thought it was all in the presentation," Annie mused.

"Lost on me, Cupcake."

"Auggie?"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Annie?"

"I want to thank you for getting me back."

"You don't have to thank me for that, Annie."

"You never gave up on me, after all that I did. And after I stopped listening to you. And even when you gave up on you, you never gave up on me. And now, we have this. I come home and I just want to scream in excitement. Oh, and I can admit now that Danielle and I did just that, probably four times, when she was here helping us. But... it was the right thing. It all was the right thing. The times we second-guessed ourselves were the times we went in the wrong direction. We go with our gut out in the field, every day. And yet, when it came to us, we kept second-guessing."

"No more," Auggie said. "We're on this right track now. We're going down the road we wanted to be on the whole time. I even get a picnic supper to come home to in my back yard. We're not guessing wrong. We're back on our game, Walker. We lost our priorities there for a while."

"I was always yours," Annie said.

"Yeah, you were. You still are."

Annie was quiet, and Auggie reached his hand out. She took it. "You need anything?" she asked him.

"Nope," Auggie said. "I think I have pretty much everything I need."

"Good. Because there's dessert," Annie said with a grin in her voice.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Thanks, Man," Decker said for a twentieth time to Auggie.

"I trust you, Decker. You don't need to thank me. Okay? Now, you have the whole thing down, right? Your name is William "Hawk" Hawksport. You split from your chapter over a bad hit and they wanted to keep you safe, so they're moving you out. You're a good member, just had some bad blood go down."

"I know, I got it all, Auggie."

Auggie smiled. "Can I check out the vest?"

Decker stepped forward and took Auggie's outstretched hand, placing it on the patch on his chest. Auggie grinned, tracing the outline, following the lines of his leather vest until he'd found the patch on the back as well. He walked back around Decker. "Tattoos?"

"Yup. I'm all affiliated."

"I heard about the sweet ride," Auggie said.

"Yeah, you _heard_ all right," Decker said with a chuckle. "I know you set that up."

"Hey, I listened all those nights you were harping on about Harleys and Indians and chrome-on-chrome choppers. I figured it was about time you had your chance. It's being shipped as we speak," Auggie told him. "You, Halburn, and Sanders are booked on the next flight to Corpus Christie. You have the three burner phones?"

"Yes. All hidden."

"And the wires?"

"All in. It's all a-go, Auggie. I got it all covered."

"Change that to _we_ and we're all set."

"I won't let you down, Brother."

Auggie kept his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know you won't, Brother," he said to Decker, and he hoped Decker heard it and remembered. "Now, I want you to check in as soon as you land. I need to keep contact with you at all times, Man, because I don't know what you're going into. I don't know where the guns are coming from, I don't know what they're covering up, and I don't know how much any of the runners know. We don't know if Belenko is on US soil yet. We don't know if there are biological weapons, and if so, where they are. So, you can understand my reluctance to let you go down there. And yet, you're the only one who can. I'm gonna worry about you. So keep me in the loop, Buddy."

He gave Decker a quick hug, slapping him on his new patched vest. They were going into a war together, in a whole new way. Decker would be the eyes and ears, and Auggie would maintain the brain, processing the information Decker gathered and giving Decker the best direction he could. It was a whole new way of working together, and Auggie hoped that they both weren't too bullheaded to be successful at it. This had to work. They both knew their survival depended on it. Belenko had his fingers in many pies, but his most prominent intention was to rid himself the last two men that took his big brother down. And, as they had all seen before, nothing would stop him from trying again and again until he did.


	18. Chapter 18

**I don't own Covert Affairs or make money off of it. I barely make reviews off of it, so I am both poor and unpaid in all regards. However, many people love free stuff, so here's another bit of my hard work. Hint: Writers need fuel: Tea, and your feedback. We will live in poverty to bring our words to you, but at least let us know if you liked it. It only takes ten seconds and it will bring you many more chapters by writers who gave up because they thought no-one cared.**

**Public service note on behalf of starving writers everywhere.**

Chapter Eighteen

Auggie cracked open a beer from the fridge. He'd come home late, and Annie was still not back. He knew she was securing a deal in the guise of a buyer for the Smithsonian but she had been still calling Joan in from New York when Auggie checked out for the night.

He'd debated going to Allen's with Barber, but in the end, he called the car service and went straight home. It wasn't the same as going home alone to his old apartment. It was going _home_, to wait for Annie to come _home_ to him.

Decker was holding his own. He was lying low, just playing his part, establishing himself as a club member so that suspicion would not be raised. He checked in twice-daily with Auggie, and everything was quiet. Quiet, except for the brawl he'd gotten into the day before. He told Auggie he needed to show his loyalty straight off, in the yard. Now he had a big fat bruise and a black eye and his jaw hurt a bit, but, he told Auggie, he was in, and he'd earned some respect. This would help them in the end.

Auggie walked along the wall to the living room, turning left at the alcove to cross the room. The remote was exactly where it was. He clicked on the television and sat to drink his beer.

Decker getting sucker-punched in the eye was an example of why Auggie had known James was the man for the job. Decker's dedication to his mission was hard fact, and he definitely had no problem looking out for himself. But it didn't make the environment Decker was in any safer. Besides the threat of Belenko, the gang violence and gunrunning was enough to get Decker into trouble.

But for now, it was calm in Corpus Christie, and Decker had three phones and three different numbers by way of contacting Auggie. For starters. Auggie took a swig of beer, focusing on the programme on TV, flipping through until he found something worth paying attention to.

The house felt big without Annie there. Auggie could feel the difference, he could feel the size of the empty house around him. He thought back to Annie's cat, which had gone to California with the Brookses, since they owned her in the first place. The cat had merely taken up residence in Annie's quiet apartment because it was tired of being dressed in clothes and chased around the house but two little girls. A cat would be another life in the house, to make it seem less lonely. And they could leave it safely for a day or two and it wouldn't even care.

Auggie sighed. He clearly was getting carried away. He wasn't someone who wanted or needed a pet. He'd had family animals growing up, but no time for them at all as an adult. They were a pain, a lot of work, and hairballs. And here he was, wondering if chatting with a cat while he waited for Annie to come home would be a good idea.

And yet, if he and Annie had kids... they'd need pets. Kids should have pets; kittens to love, dogs to play with.

Auggie shook his head. He was getting carried away now for certain. He checked his watch. He was hungry, and he wasn't sure if Annie would be back any time soon. He knew she would be tired, she was running an op that had taken longer than the twenty-four hours it was planned. He wondered if she was en route. She usually called him when she was on her way home, and talked to him until the battery on her phone died, or she fell asleep. It had become routine. Auggie always loved those quiet moments between them, they reminded him of how they had really gotten to know one another at the very start of Annie's career with the Agency, when Annie was on an op, sitting, waiting, and Auggie was her link to everything.

Auggie got back up and went back to the kitchen. He hip-checked the edge of the table as he passed it. Still not quite perfect, he thought, but that was how it was. He ran into stuff. He did it a lot. It barely registered with him anymore, but he wanted to make it a rare thing in his own house.

For reasons unknown, Auggie was thinking about Billy's parents. It had frustrated him when Parker had come to him, and not only because just seeing her again set off a heap of emotions he didn't want to dredge up, but because the money that was paid them for their beautiful son's life stopped coming. And while he'd been able to fast forward their compensation before they lost their house, how many more people's families weren't so lucky? It had frustrated him then, and it frustrated him still.

Until he'd gone back to Iraq to face his own dæmons, he'd had a difficult time thinking about his fellow soldiers, about the war, about how they came home, if they came home. He had chosen to move on. And then Billy's parents happened, and then the opportunity to be a Battle Buddy had come up, and somehow, after talking again with his fellow soldiers, and giving his Purple Heart to a child playing soccer, he had started to find it easier to talk to vets about their time away and their return home. Not comfortable by any means, he'd much rather talk about a game of baseball then how sometimes the sound of thunder shifted him back for a tiny moment into a place with voices, hot sand, and the impending feeling of something coming.

He was okay. He'd come home slightly worse for wear, for sure, and had so much to deal with, but he had it good in comparison. There was too much injustice about the business of war. He wondered if there was any way at all he could try to make some of it right for any of the families, like Billy's, that had no son or daughter to thank for their service any longer. If he could get the ball rolling for the compensation for Billy's parents, then why couldn't he try with others? This thought had been flashing at him off and on for a while now. He knew that if he took it to Joan, she would frown at his working out of department, but she would understand his need for it. She would put a word in if she could, but it was not her department, either. He'd have to make the trip downtown. That, in itself, was an ordeal and a half, getting in to talk to _anyone_ that could make any headway. He had his ins, in all truth, but it didn't make the process much easier. And since he had to keep his own job covert, it was a fine line of how much information about his own career he had to draw out.

Auggie put his dishes in the dishwasher and took his beer back to the living room. He switched the channel to the weather and sat back in against the sofa.

His phone rang.

"Incoming call from: _Helvetica_."

He smiled, feeling more cheerful already. Barber had been right, he mused somewhat dejectedly, Auggie _did_ get cranky when Annie was gone for too long. "Annie," he greeted her happily.

"Hey, Auggie," she said.

"You sound tired."

"I'm more worn out than tired. I've been on the go."

"Are you on the go home?"

"I am."

Auggie smiled, swinging his hand out to find the sofa again. He settled back with the phone in one hand and his beer in the other.

"I'll be back in DC in about an hour."

"Can I come pick you up?" he asked. When he heard her laugh, he shook his head, making a face. "You know I mean the service," he said.

"I know exactly what you meant, and I'll grab a cab, Auggie. I just want to come home. To you."

"I'm here waiting," Auggie said. "I'll even draw you a bath when you call me when you're in the cab. So save some battery for that."

"Oh, Auggie, you don't even _know_ how fabulous that sounds. I've been doing this wrong the _whole_ time."

"Me, too," Auggie said. "So what did you see?"

"Well, the usual stuff, you know. But there was this wonderful women I saw on the street, she must have been about seventy years old or more. She was pretty striking, actually, she was wearing beautiful colours and her hair wrapped in a bright orange head scarf and she was getting people to join her in dancing."

"Dancing?"

"She was telling people they don't celebrate the joy that they feel inside. They bury it in tight work spaces and stuffy suits. She wanted everyone to take a moment and forget that stuff and just dance."

"And was there music?"

"Yes, it was coming from a patio, it was pretty catchy."

"And did you dance?"

"I did not," she said, the smile in her voice. "I didn't want to draw attention to myself. But I felt it inside."

Auggie smiled to himself. That in itself told him everything.

They talked for another twenty minutes, until Annie said she would save the last of her battery.

When he hung up, Auggie felt more centred. Annie would be home, and they would be together for the weekend. There would be their Skype calls to Italy in the morning, and according to the weather channel, the weather was supposed to be warm and sunny. He loved to wake up with Annie on the weekends when he could feel the sun pouring in the window on their eastern-facing bedroom, and they could just lie-in and revel in every part of it. So much for wanting to fill his empty weekends with overtime at the office, he chuckled to himself. He surely felt different about weekends now.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie woke to feel the sun warming the room. He had Annie tucked into his chest, and his arm draped over her. He didn't know how they always managed to entwine themselves without getting pinched nerves or aching necks, but when he felt her breath against his neck, he knew she slept as soundly as he did. He dipped his head a little until his lips came in contact with her forehead. He kissed her there, and turned his head a little to rest the side of his face against her hair. He never wanted to move from this spot.

Annie's bladder disagreed. He felt her slowly come up from sleep as she became conscious of her surroundings and of Auggie.

"Good morning," she mumbled, a groggy smile evident.

"Good morning," he whispered into her ear.

"Hmmm, I have to get up," she said, sliding out of his arms and heading to the bathroom. Auggie smiled, thinking about the night before. It was as though they actually could not stop touching each other when they were together, and that didn't take long to escalate when given the right conditions.

Annie returned as Auggie moved to sit on the edge of the bed. She sat beside him and took up his hand.

"I was kinda thinking we could go for a drive today. I know that they're not so much fun for you, but... I just want to go to the beach, Auggie. I need to get away from the city. From land."

Auggie was going to object at first. He hadn't planned on going anywhere, really, and she was right about car-trips, he found them tedious, monotonous, and exclusive. But Annie wanted to get away, he could hear it in her voice. And it wasn't about him now, because he was a partner, and he absolutely needed to learn to give up some of his control.

"I'll tell you what, I'll do whatever you want, as long as you do all the driving, and I get to pick the radio station." He winked at her.

"Then, when we get to the river," Annie said, "we can both dance like that woman in her bright colours."

Auggie laughed. "I will say no more," he said. "Go prepare your Italian," he patted her knee. "I'm getting a shower. You make the coffee, and I'll make the eggs."

"Scrambled?" Annie asked with a grin.

"That's how they all end up, so I'm gonna say _yes_."

She giggled and kissed him before heading out the door.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Annie had wondered around the house three times with her tablet, showing viewers in three different homes parts of their new house. Auggie almost thought she'd show Violet, too, but she held back. The two Italian girls were told that the house was open to welcome them any time they wanted to come to the U.S. The Americans were told that if they should want a tour of the Smithsonian or the Capital building, they would have both a tour guide and a place to stop over. As they invited them, Auggie imagined people filling his home with voices and laughter. He imagined the chaos of visitors. He'd never done this sort of thing as an adult, but he remembered how it was as a kid, visiting, or more likely, being visited upon. Travelling with five boys was not really something any sane parents would do on a regular basis.

Auggie waved good-bye in the direction of the tablet Annie was holding up, and she ended the call. He sometimes felt frustrated with this Skype method of communication, just because he missed so much. He wanted to see how well the kids looked, he wanted to watch their faces, and though Annie did a hell of a job for him, feeding him visuals both live, and filled in after the calls were finished, he felt like he wasn't able to connect with the younger children at all. Violet was the biggest mystery, he could sometimes hear her noises or cries or giggles, if he was lucky, but if she was sleeping, or stayed quiet, or even cranky, he missed everything. And Alessia. That was a whole other story. The little girl was often overwhelmed with the attention or the excitement over the Skype call that she clammed up, shy and silent. Auggie knew that the way she had communicated with him was not through speaking. It sometimes broke his heart that he couldn't be close to her, to feel her little hands on his arm.

"You miss them as much as I do, don't you?" Annie said, leaning on her hand, her elbow on the back of the sofa.

"Maybe more," he said.

"I don't see why we can't work something in," Annie said.

Auggie smiled at her, holding out his hand. "We'll see them again soon."

She squeezed his fingers. A smile.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Are you sure we have everything?" Annie said, looking at the car.

"We have as much as we can put in here, Annie." There was not a lot of space in the Corvette, that much he remembered. "You have the picnic stuff, towels, swimsuits, sunscreen? A hat? I don't know, but you're blonde, you need sunscreen. I imagine you're a burner."

"You got that right," she admitted.

"What is it we're doing? I mean, should I wear something else?"

"You look perfect the way you are. It's beautiful out. We can take a stroll, maybe check out the water. Maybe we'll find a lake on the way, take a swim... Maybe we'll find a little fish 'n' chips stand. Or maybe we can climb a hill and find the wind. What you have on is perfect."

Auggie shook his head with a grateful smile. He knew no matter what they did, they would do it together, and it would be completely enjoyable. She just made it so.

"What are you wearing?" he asked, curious, reaching his hand out.

"I have on a sundress. It's yellow."

"Yellow," Auggie said, clearly imagining in his mind's eye as his hand touched her arm, moving up to her shoulder. "Are you wearing sensible shoes?"

"Aug-gieeee," she groaned.

"Annie?" Auggie said, his grin sneaking over his face.

"I'm wearing practical shoes," she admitted to him.

"Let me feel," Auggie said, bending over, his fingers searching for her foot. She put her toes out into his hand. He traced the shoe, a neat little flat with a good bottom on it, and he grinned, standing. "What can I say, I'm impressed."

"You don't think I run around everywhere in heels, do you? I mean, what did you think I had on in Sardinia?"

"Oh, I imagined you wore stilettos everywhere we went," Auggie said. "Didn't you?" He kept his face serious, maybe even puzzled.

"Come on," she said. "You have your phone? Your cane? Sunglasses?"

"Check, check, check. Let's go, go, go," Auggie moved past her, feeling for the door handle of the car. He took off the messenger bag and set it down in the ample foot room of the passenger side and sat down in the low seat.

"Door," Annie said, letting him know to keep everything inside the frame as she shut it.

The drive wasn't as bad as Auggie had worried it would be. The Corvette gave him the feel of the road beneath him, and while his bones didn't appreciate it as much, the rest of him did. He listened to the rumble of the engine for a while, and then he turned on the radio. The wind combed his hair, the sun touched his head, and it wasn't as boring as he'd imagined it. He chalked it up to not being totally enclosed in a car. He could smell the blossoms of the new flowers, the freshly mowed lawns, the fresh of the trees; he could hear the sounds of the tires on the road, the pavement, the chip seal, the patch spots, gravel. Auggie almost wondered if Annie was taking the tactile route to wherever it was they were heading. It sounded too stupid so he didn't frame the thought to ask her.

"There's a blue Camaro coming up behind us, catching up fast. Two racing stripes over the length of it."

Auggie tilted his head, not knowing what to do with that information.

"It's okay," Annie said. "Total civilian. Young guy, I think. Looks like a hot shot."

"Well, show him how a woman drives a Corvette," Auggie said, anticipation building inside.

Annie reached over and patted his chest, and he felt the car increasing in speed over the asphalt. The car moved out to the left, passing. Auggie heard the strange reflection of sound from their own car engine as they passed another car.

"He's pulled out, too, he's passed two cars. He's directly behind us, but he can't pass," Annie sang.

Auggie grinned to himself. He would have been doing the same thing. Annie wasn't driving at a ridiculous speed, they were in a Saturday state of showing off their cars, and Auggie secretly loved it. He was proud of Annie behind the wheel of any car, and if he couldn't be the one behind the wheel any more, then he felt right about being with Annie as she raced the Camaro along the highway.

"We got him," Annie said. He's taking the exit. We win!"

Auggie laughed at her enthusiasm. She slowed the car to a reasonable pace and then she, too, decided at the next exit to leave the highway. The smells in the air increased as they headed back through the side roads.

The sound around Auggie briefly closed in, the sound of the engine reflecting back at him on all sides, and then it was open again.

"Was that an overpass?" Auggie asked.

"You got it," Annie replied, and Auggie grinned. This was getting too easy.

"Shit," Annie said.

"What?" Auggie asked.

"Um... I just kinda went though a red light. And there were cops. And I can see them in the rear view mirror, turning around. Hang on, Hun," she said.

Auggie, puzzled, grabbed onto the inside of the door, unsure what she was going to do. Low to the ground as they were, tight turns were easily manoeuvred, and Annie made one to the right.

"Dirt road," she explained. "They didn't see us turn."

Auggie felt the car slow and then turned again, and Annie then did a U-turn and waited.

"Okay," she said. "I saw them go by out there. We lucked out."

Auggie shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. "Life of crime," Auggie said. "I'm not sure I want my car put into such criminal activities."

Annie's hand was on his cheek, and she kissed him, giggling. "You love this," she said.

"Yeah. I do," Auggie admitted.

They hit the road again, and any time there was something different to see, Auggie knew about it. He knew there was an osprey flying above them in big circles. He knew there was a church with a giant steeple. He knew there were kids eating ice-cream on the sidewalk. He knew there was a house that was painted lilac and purple.

"Auggie, you might not believe me, but it's the truth," Annie said, her voice ringing with laughter. "There was a man walking a goat. It was on a leash!"

"A goat?" Auggie asked.

"A goat!" Annie wailed. "Little nubby horns, beard, hooves, a _goat_!"

"Was he old or young?" Auggie wanted to know.

"What," Annie said, almost hysterical with laughter. "The goat?"

"No, not the goat!" Auggie said. "Why do I feel like I'm talking to Barber—the man, was the man walking the goat old?"

"He was probably maybe sixty."

"So it's not some trendy thing," Auggie said. "I thought I might be missing something. Well, I guess it's good he's got someone to exercise with. But we are not getting a goat, Annie."

Annie, in reply, snorted in laughter.

Auggie had not ever anticipated this kind of day, not for a long, long time. He'd almost become reclusive; other than spending all his time at work, he stuck pretty close to home otherwise. It just had become habit. But since knowing Annie, he'd gone to baseball games, hit concerts, tried new restaurants, and learned how to enjoy things he'd written off for himself as a blind man. That was one thing that Auggie had always gotten out of dating. A partner took him out of his comfort zone, guided him through the unknown. Annie had always taken this two steps further. Joan had even admitted to him that she'd paired Annie with Auggie to take him out of his comfort zone. She'd seen that his circle of comfort had become painfully small since he'd come back from Iraq, and somehow, Joan had seen Annie as one to break some of that down.

The drive took them along the river and then Annie decided they needed an ice cream.

"I don't do well with ice-cream, Annie," Auggie stated as she pulled in to a lot.

"No worries, Auggie, we'll get yours in a cup, and we'll have heaps of napkins. This place even has a picnic table, so we can sit over there. I can't pass by an ice-cream stand. Besides, they painted this one pink and blue, and you truly do not want to ask me to pass right on by this." The engine roared and then fell silent.

"Oh, no, in that case, I don't dare." Auggie raised his hands in defeat, chuckling, hearing Annie's seatbelt click.

He pulled his cane from his messenger bag and got out of the car. Annie met him immediately and he took her elbow as they walked along the crushed gravel under their feet.

"One step," Annie said, and they stepped up onto the wooden platform in front of the ice-cream stand. Annie read Auggie the list of flavours and they took their time deciding. Annie had a cone, and she took the bowl and spoon for Auggie and they headed over to the picnic table.

Annie placed Auggie's hand on the table and he found his way into the bench seat across from her.

"This is good," Auggie said, appreciative of her suggestion.

"There's always a way around it, Auggie, when there's ice-cream to be eaten."

Auggie laughed. Feeling the ice cream on his tongue, and the sun on his shoulders, and hearing the sounds of the kids and the other customers at the small stand, Auggie once again marvelled at what this woman had done for him.

"So," she said. "I know we agreed to go quietly, and I knew we agreed to keep it small, and I still agree to all that... but I really think we should start planning this wedding."

Ice-cream always comes with a talk, remembered Auggie, smiling at his beautiful fiancé across the table. He prepared himself as well as any good husband-to-be and got ready to start talking.


	19. Chapter 19

**C is for cancel, of which we will not speak.**

**O is for over it, which I am never going to be.**

**V is for vulnerable, which my emotional state has become.**

**E is for everyone I have met because of this show.**

**R is for rewatch, which happens in time.**

**T is for travesty, which is how this show finished.**

**A is for Auggie, for whom I hold the utmost love.**

**F is for fantasy, which is where I live with Auggie.**

**F is for favourite show EVER.**

**A is for Annie, who set the bar high.**

**I is for I do not own Covert Affairs or the characters created by Ord and Corman.**

**R is for RENEW COVERT AFFAIRS!**

**S is for swooning and sobbing, between which I fluctuate.**

Chapter Nineteen

"You look terrified," Annie said.

"I do?" Auggie asked.

"Little bit," Annie admitted. She put her hand over the hand he held the ice-cream bowl with. "I promise I won't go overboard. Trust me, the _last_ thing I want is a lot of fuss. I already told that to Danielle."

"Well, Danielle's invited," Auggie said. "I mean, we have enough room for a few people."

"Well," Annie said. "Why don't we have... fifteen people each?"

"Do kids count as people?" Auggie asked, puzzled.

"You have four nieces and nephews, right? And I have two. They should be included."

"My side is already twice yours," Auggie said.

"Okay, family doesn't count. We'll just lump them all in as five. And... I'll have to invite my mother," Annie said.

"Yes, you do," said Auggie. Annie needed to bring her mother into her own life again, if her mother wouldn't do it.

"I just want Danielle to stand with me," Annie said. "And the girls."

"Okay," Auggie said. "Well, I've got Barber."

"Will your brothers be mad if you don't include them?"

"Are you kidding? They'll be overjoyed not to have to wear a monkey suit. Oh, and speaking of that, I know I look super fine and everything in a tux, but can we just go with maybe a suit?"

"As much as I _do_ adore you in a tuxedo, Auggie, I am fine with you in a suit. I like how you look in a suit. Or just vest. Or just jeans. Or nothing at all."

"Someone _might_ notice that," Auggie said, scraping the bottom of the dish of ice-cream. He set it down and felt for the napkin to wipe his lips. "Suit it is. Now. The important things: your dress."

"Well," Annie said. "I won't break the bank. I dunno. I don't want to spend tons of money, Auggie. Just simple."

"Weddings are never just simple. Or cheap."

"They always get away from people. I was a bridesmaid three times, Auggie. I've seen what damage happens."

Auggie nodded. "Well, we have control," he said. "We'll have something that suits us exactly."

Annie took up his hands. "Where do you want to do this?"

Auggie shook his head. "I don't know."

"Do you want to travel?"

"No, there's too much involved. I want a honeymoon with you. Just you."

"Well, let's concentrate on that part for our big event, and we'll make the actual affair small and as simple as we can." She was quiet for a moment. "Why not the house?"

"The house? Our house?"

"Yeah. We could have something there. It keeps it from getting too big. We could rent a hall after for a dance or something, if we had to. I'd rather just dance with you under twinkle lights in our own trees, though. You'd be more comfortable there then somewhere you've never been. We could let the kids play, or sleep... We have three bathrooms and a kitchen. What more do we need? Danielle and Michael can help us get it all ready. We just need a nice little arch or something pretty. Just a little garden wedding. Or if it rains, we can go on the verandah."

Auggie's smile grew bigger as she talked. It was like she was sneaking into the place in his mind where he'd stuck hopes that he didn't know he had. He squeezed her hands. "Are you sure?"

"I'm so sure," she said.

"So... friends?"

"Can we even invite Joan and Arthur? What is the protocol there? I mean, I want our friends from work there. Eric is your best man, right? And Holmon and James..."

"Annie," Auggie said. "Don't you have any friends from home that you want there? Old besties?"

"You're my bestie, remember?" Annie said with a smile.

He nodded back at her, "I know. But what about girl friends?"

"I left everyone behind. I never had besties, because we moved around so much. Danielle was my bestie."

"Okay," Auggie said. Well, that is a tentative list. We can work on that. So, the house... Food?"

They both answered that question immediately. "Danielle," they said in unison.

"Of course, we need to actually _ask_ her, not _tell_ her," Auggie said.

"I'll make it so she thinks it's her idea," Annie replied.

"Perfect execution to that," Auggie agreed.

"Civil marriage?"

"We're civil people, I'd say yes."

"Anybody in your family get mad if we don't do this in a Church?" Annie asked.

"None that would dare," Auggie replied. "You?"

"Nope."

"Well," Auggie said. "This seems easier then I thought it was going to be."

"Don't worry," Annie said. "It will get more terrifying and confusing the closer it gets."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that," Auggie told her.

"It'll be okay," Annie said, and he believed her. It would all be okay. They would have the people that they loved and respected and needed the most and they would be in their own back garden, so that every day after, they would always remember that they made their lives and their home together there.

"So is that all we need? Place, date, idea of a list, general theme?"

"I'll handle the finer details. It won't overwhelm you, Auggie, I promise."

"You done? We ready?" Auggie made to climb out from the picnic table.

"Yup, back on the road," Annie said, bumping her hand against his wrist, and they returned back to the Corvette.

The next part of the road was less exciting. Annie kept at a decent speed, and there were no more road chases, police or otherwise. Auggie found himself zoning out, and so he fumbled around for another radio station.

"Auggie?"

"Yeah."

"I'd like to visit the girls inn Italy on our honeymoon."

"Me, too. We'll have a stopover there."

"Where do you want to go? We've gone so many places. Together and alone."

"I have a request."

Annie turned to look at him for a second. "What is it, Hun?"

"I'd like to go to Egypt."

"Egypt?" Annie sounded surprised. "You want to go to Egypt?"

"I haven't seen the pyramids. And I guess I won't now. But I'd like to touch one. I don't even know if they let you get that close. I guess if I can't touch it, though, I could be anywhere in the sand."

"We'll look it up, Auggie. We'll figure that out. It's good to have ideas on the table. I'd love to go there, too."

Annie slowed the car, and pulled off into gravel. Auggie tilted his head, listening, trying to figure out where they were heading. Before he could ask, Annie gave him his answer.

"Patuxent River."

"The park?"

"No. I have a better spot."

"Of course you do."

She parked and they unloaded everything they needed. Auggie linked onto Annie's elbow and they headed onto a quiet path that had long grasses on either side. Auggie felt the sand and rocks under his shoes and he could hear the trees.

"Is there anyone here?"

"We are."

"Okay," Auggie said, a smirk on his mouth.

"There's a little sandy bit of beach here," Annie said. "And then, there's a trail back up on our right."

"And you know this, how?"

"I know lots of things."

"I won't deny that."

"We can have our picnic here on the beach. In the shade of these trees here. And then maybe, if you want, we can hike up this hill. Or down the beach. Nothing like a little physical exertion."

Auggie was grateful then. They'd done so much walking on their big tour in the winter, and Auggie had missed it. It wasn't something he could do on his own, and working out at the gym was nowhere near the same thing. At all.

Annie brought out the goods, and Auggie did his best to spread the blanket she'd handed him. When he was done, he sat and pulled off his loafer sneakers without unlacing them and put them just off the top corner of the blanket. He took off his sunglasses and put them in the right shoe. He stuck his feet in the sand, and dug his toes in. It had been too long.

"Good?" Annie asked, moving down beside him, bumping his shoulder with hers. He felt her mbare foot push sand over his and everything weighing over him dissipated.

"Definitely," Auggie replied. "But I still wanna know how you knew this was here?"

"I always had a tendency to drive when I'm angry... or sad... it's probably why I'm so good under pressure behind the wheel. I was pissed off one day... at a guy... and one of my friends... I just drove and drove and drove."

"College days?"

"Yeah. Good old emotional times."

"And it brought you here?"

"I just stopped. I got to here, I was heading to the coast, I guess. I came along the river and there was this road and I just pulled in and stopped."

Auggie was quiet. He liked to know about her. They so rarely gave up much of themselves, even as close as they had become, they didn't bring up the past. But Auggie knew that the past was important, because it moulded a person by every phase they passed through, into the person they were at the present. He wanted to know what made Annie _Annie_. Anyone who said the past didn't matter, Auggie didn't believe them. Not one bit. He knew they didn't believe it either, how could it not matter?

_Every step forward begins with a firmly planted foot in the past_, he thought again. He wasn't sure where he had heard that, or if he'd made it up, but it carried him through a lot of his own trials and troubles. And if he wasn't mistaken, he thought he gave Annie this sage piece of advice right after he'd met her. He really needed to start writing these things down, he thought. They actually sounded pretty good.

"Whatchya thinkin'?" Annie asked.

Auggie sighed and then turned his head toward her a little. "Just thinking about how everything happened the way it did so that we could sit here right now."

"That's pretty deep, Anderson," Annie said, pressing him sideways.

"I can't help it. I think a lot."

"Yeah, it's pretty sexy," Annie said.

"So when you stopped, I'm assuming you got out of the car."

"Yes. I did. I found this nice little beach, and I walked up the hill. I think it's an old walking path of some kind. There were a couple of marker posts."

She passed him a cold can of soda, bumping it against his forearm. He took it and found the key, and it fizzed a bit as he opened it.

There were sandwiches, and apples, and a bag of potato chips. There was a container of strawberries, and a handful of granola bars. She had a big bottle of water for them to share.

"You're a pretty good picnic packer," Auggie said.

"I know. I really am. I can't say I ever lost a guy because of my picnic basket."

"Well, you'd better only be packin' 'em for one guy now," Auggie said, feeling out on the blanket for one of the apples. "Sticker?" he asked.

"Nope, I de-stickered it," Annie said.

"Thanks," Auggie said, taking a bite.

"So you want to go for a walk, then?"

"Yeah. Maybe we can get a good heart rate up."

"You were used to moving around a _lot_," Annie said, matter-of-factly. "I mean, running and stuff."

Auggie gave her a poignant smile. "Yeah. I was pretty physical."

"That time in Sardinia... when you just ran on the beach. That must have felt freeing."

Auggie sighed, remembering the feeling. "It did."

"You should get a running partner. I mean, it wouldn't be as good as flying down a beach in an Italian island, but if you had a good pace-partner. You don't use the treadmill in the cardio room, do you."

"I tried it a few times," Auggie said. "It wasn't pretty. I'm supposed to be stationary on a moving track. Problem is, I can't tell where I am. I fell off the back a few times. I run into the front bar and then lose my bearings. Unless I hold on to the handrails, I don't stay in the right place, especially if I'm on an incline, and you just can't run holding onto handrails. It frustrated me, so I stopped."

"You should ask James. I bet he'd run with you."

Auggie thought about that. James was a sturdy guy, more a stamina man than a speed man, but he and Auggie could very well be evenly paced.

"Will you ask him?" Annie asked.

"I'll ask him."

"Good. I'd like to go with you, but I doubt we'd be a good match."

"We're a great match everywhere else," Auggie said.

"You don't lie," Annie said, eating a strawberry.

"I wish we had a pool at the gym," Auggie said.

"_Euff_, where would they put it, in the broom closet?" Annie said.

Auggie laughed. "Well, I wouldn't get lost," he said.

"You like to swim?" Annie asked, putting the trash in a bag. "I mean, we never really got to swim when we were away. We didn't pick one warm shore the whole time."

"I used to be on a swim team at college," Auggie said.

"Really? How come I didn't know this?"

"Hey, I'm not giving it away all at once," Auggie said. "I like to have some surprises for you."

"Just like you spending time with a host family in Buenos Aires?" Annie asked.

Auggie grinned, cheekily. "Just like that," he said.

He could feel the smile on her face, like a glow that warmed his cheeks and forehead. _Why did that happen? And why, only with Annie?_ He reached out to her and she slid close to him.

"I love you, you know that, Anderson?"

Auggie was set with a smart reply, but he stopped, and let the smile soften on his mouth. "I love you, too, Walker. All the way," he said, feeling her fingers intertwine in his.

She stood up, tugging his hand behind her. He reached over for his shoes, pulled his sunglasses from the right one, and hooked them over the pocket on his shirt Then he undid the laces and put on his shoes before standing up and brushing the sand off.

"I'm pretty sure we can just leave this stuff here," Annie said. "You ready? Think you can keep up?"

"Bring it, Walker," he replied, and he felt her tap his folded cane against his hand. He took it and slid his hand up her elbow, feeling her warm, moist skin under his fingers. He relished the feeling, enjoying the opportunity that he had to do this all the time with her. In a slightly jealous part of his brain, he felt a moment of smug pride that Ryan McQuaid had never had this intimate touch with Annie every day he'd spent with her.

They headed back out from the beach and before they came to the gravel path leading to where the car was parked, Annie turned them to the right.

"It's kind of good," Annie said, hope in her voice.

"What's that mean?" Auggie said, screwing his face up at her.

"It's wide enough most of the way," Annie said, "but we'll have to watch out for the odd branch, and there are roots to content with. But it's pretty good. You okay with it?"

"Lead on," Auggie said, motioning with his hand, pulling the sunglasses from his pocket and putting them on. Sometimes, if the sun was bright, it made his eyes water and his head ache. It wasn't worth it.

They climbed the hill, and Auggie did his best to not trip over the roots and rocks as his cane kept catching on the terrain, but Annie somehow manoeuvred him around anything that would catch him up, or at least alerted him to duck for branches or step over anything she couldn't lead him around.

There were birds, singing, calling. Auggie turned his head as they walked, getting a full radar of sound, like an owl, Annie had told him once in Ireland. They walked for a long time, and part of the hill got steep. Auggie felt good, like the air was clearer and he was pumping more of it through his body.

"I don't have my phone," Auggie said, all of a sudden.

"So? We're off-book, off-grid."

"So, Annie, don't fall down or anything. There's no way I could get you out of here, and drive you to a hospital."

"I promise, I'll be careful," Annie assured him, her hand over the one on her elbow.

"Good, 'cause, as amazing as I am, there are some things I just can't do." He liked to project cockiness when he admitted a weakness beneath it.

"Well, as far as I can tell, you can pretty much do everything," Annie said.

"One big exception, there. You might have noticed it."

"All I noticed was how sexy you were," Annie teased him.

Auggie laughed, picking his feet up more than usual over the rough terrain.

"Then I may have noticed your headphones," she added.

"Gets 'em every time," Auggie said.

They climbed a little more, their path leading them around a few twists.

"Can you see down to the river?" Auggie asked.

"Nope," Annie said.

Auggie tilted his head and pulled Annie to a stop. "What that?"

Annie listened. "Water?"

Auggie nodded. We have a spring or something. Must feed the river from this hill. Can we find it? Maybe we can stick our feet in."

"I think the path goes over there. I didn't come this far before. I think it's a little brook, it looks like there's a little waterfall just at the top. Actually, more like rapids than a waterfall. Small scale rapids." The walked a little further and then rounded a knoll and Annie could see where the water was coming from.

"Oh, Auggie," she said. "I found our treasure."

"What? What is it?" Auggie could get no further clues from his senses, but he kept on beside Annie until she stopped.

"You're standing just in front of a fresh-water lake," she told him. "A small one. Maybe a really big pond. It's so clear, Auggie."

"Are there fish? Can you see any fish or anything?"

"Not right here. I would think it would have to be stocked every year if fish were to thrive. There's a little bit of garbage, but mostly it's pretty tranquil. We'll grab that when we go."

Auggie turned to Annie. "Could we swim here?"

Annie turned away, and Auggie let go of her arm as she asked, "Can you unzip me?" He reached back up and trailed his fingers across her back, locating the tab on the zipper.

"Either this means you're swimming," Auggie said, leaning in and kissing her neck, "or you're coming on to me."

"I have my swimsuit on underneath," Annie informed him.

"Oh." Auggie sounded disappointed.

"Come on," Annie prompted. "As much as you like to take your shirt off, you're holding back there, Soldier."

Immediately Auggie started unbuttoning his shirt. The knee-length grey cargo shorts would do for swimming; he'd realised that morning that the one pair of trunks he had were left on a boat in Eritrea a few years ago. He'd also realised he had not been swimming for a very long time.

Annie took his cane, laying it by her sundress. She took the shirt off his shoulders and as she did so, she traced the tattoo across his back before she put his shirt and shoes with her clothes. Auggie's back tingled from the slight touch she'd given him. She returned, and this time, the flat of her hand pressed against his back.

"Ready?"

Auggie smiled at her and nodded, holding out his hand. She clasped hers around it and squeezed twice.

"Okay. We have about three steps and then the water, and it's all sandy, not muddy. Some small rocks. No grass here. It looks like it gets pretty deep towards the middle."

"Come on." Auggie started walking, pulling her with him. She pulled ahead, still holding his hand, and they both ran into the water, laughing, splashing as they raced. Annie dropped down into the water and Auggie dove a shallow dive beside her, coming up and wiping the water off his face.

"Whooo!" Annie gasped. "Beautiful!"

Auggie smiled, feeling unbelievably happy as he lifted his feet to float for a minute. He found the bottom again and stood. "Can we swim a distance at all?"

"We sure can, babe, it's about a hundred feet across. By about fifty."

"Okay. Keep me straight. Just go ahead a bit, I can hear you if you give me cues."

He heard her splash and the sound of her body breaking the water. Auggie pushed off and started in a breast stroke, listening to Annie until he had the direction mostly sorted. Then he switched into a crawl, breathing every second stroke, pushing through the water swiftly. It had been so long since he felt the feeling of weightless motion, almost like flying. It was something that couldn't be touched by blindness. Though it had taken him several moments of panic to first reacquaint himself with water without sight, he'd learned to breathe and focus on _not_ panicking. Once he learned this, he could always orient himself to what was up and what was down, and once above the surface, the sound of the wave breaking on the shore, or the sound of land birds and sea birds, he could usually find his way to shore. It depended on where he was swimming, but he'd learned to control his panic in the water so that he could feel the freedom it gave him.

He felt Annie touch his back gently and he stopped, his feet touching ground. "Are we at the other side?" he asked.

"Yes. I didn't know you were so..."

"So what?"

"Wow."

Auggie broke out in a laugh. "Race you back," he said, turning a hundred-and-eighty-degrees and diving back into the water.

She shouted him back on course twice as they raced back through the water, and then she called out for him to stop before he beached himself. Three more times they did this, and then they just lingered in the water together. Annie swam a few circles around Auggie as they talked and laughed. He pulled her onto his lap, where the buoyancy of the water made her so light she barely stayed in contact. She revealed that she _really_ wanted to renovate the closets in the bedroom because they were horrible. Auggie agreed with her completely. After being able to navigate his old closet so easily without sight, this one seemed desperately cramped and disorganised, all pushed together. They pondered what would work best with the space they had and then they finally realised they'd been in the water long enough for their fingers to pucker a little, and so, reluctantly, they climbed from the lake, water streaming off them.

"We have no towels," Annie said.

"We'll be dry in no time," Auggie told her, taking the shirt she pushed into his hands. He put it on and left it untucked after he buttoned it. He put his shoes on and then she was standing in front of him again. He reached out, gliding his hand down her back to find the zipper pull. He drew it up and then turned her toward him, his hand reaching over her arm to pull her close to him. He pressed his right hand against the wet hair on her neck and reached up with his left hand to touch her cheek. Smiling, he closed his eyes and kissed her. He felt her arms around his back, her fingers rubbing against the linen shirt.

He would never stop loving this woman. He never had stopped loving her since she'd come into his life on those high heels of hers.

"We're coming back here again," Auggie said when they broke away.

Annie just laughed and pressed herself against him one more time and he hugged her tight.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

The drive home was quiet. Auggie loved the feeling of the evening air whirling around. A few places they passed were swampy enough to host choruses of frogs. Auggie was once again grateful that, though he hadn't realised it, part of his brain had foreseen that Auggie still needed that car when he gave it to Annie. And had he listened to that part then, he wouldn't have left to follow Parker. The sounds that being in a convertible afforded him were above and beyond the stifling confinement of a car. They didn't even have the radio on, but the rumble of the engine calmed him like the sax of a jazz tune. He wasn't sleepy, but he felt content to just sit back and listen, to feel everything in even more powerful ways than he had a long time ago, back in the days when sights were all that mattered in the fast paced world he threw himself in. He hadn't known how to fully take it all in back then.

Annie reached over and put her hand on his knee. He put his hand over hers. There was absolutely no doubt in Auggie's mind that everything was exactly as it should be for him, for _them_, at last.


	20. Chapter 20

**Own Covert Affairs, I do not. No, though I carry the anguish of its demise in my heart, and feel shamed that my happiness has been slaughtered upon a boardroom floor, still. I own the pain, the despair, the empty hole that once held joy and sweet happiness. Though some may say I do not need such trivial things, I rail at notions appalling. I hold true the argument that the smallest things can save a soul from the biggest of aches. The woe I feel is mine. There is no income from such ownership. And in such states that this leaves me, I forward this unto you.**

Chapter Twenty

"I can't get inside," Decker said over the phone to Auggie. "No matter what, I'm gonna look suspicious to both sides. But I know where one of the warehouses we've been looking for is. I know they have trucks that travel at night to the north from here and back. I know they do firearms deals in the yard. But nobody goes in. We can't tell what's inside. It's so goddam tight, Man, you can't pick up a scent if you wanted to."

Auggie had had an idea before, and it just became clearer. "Decker, _where_ is Belenko."

"I'm working on that. Word is he's due to hit U.S. soil on Wednesday. Amazon business is what my guys say. They don't know anything, Auggie. They know the guns, and they know their business. They don't want to know if there are environmental weapons, don't ask, don't tell."

"I need you to set me up a deal."

"You. Who are you sending?"

"Me."

"Shit, Auggie, this is not your mission."

"You can't get in, Decker. You got us the intel, that's what you were supposed to do. If you go to that warehouse and nose around, as you say, both sides are going to suspect. I need you to set me up a deal. Tell them your connection only uses their blind contact because I can't see where I get the goods, and therefore they get an extra security gratuity doing business with my man."

"No, Auggie, this is not gonna happen, they're not going to let you do this. How the hell would you be able to figure out better than me what's going down in that warehouse. No offense."

"None taken, look, Decker, it isn't me that will know. But I have the perfect excuse to use Tosca," Auggie said, a grin on his face.

"What's TOSCA?" Decker asked, obviously thinking it was a new programme of some kind.

"Not _what_," Auggie said. "_Who_. And Tosca is a dog. Specifically, Tosca is a secret weapon against secret weapons."

"Yeah, well, that might look a little obvious, Auggie, bringing a dog, an intelligent dog at that, to a deal site where there is more suspicion and scrutiny than anywhere. I think they'd shut that deal down pretty fast. Nobody takes a dog to a deal."

"A blind guy might," Auggie said.

There was a moment where Auggie knew Decker was working out the logistics and weighing the outcomes, but then he protested again. "Auggie, no. You are not going there."

"It's the best way to know, Decker. Think about it. We get that dog in, we know what we're dealing with. If they are importing biological weapons, we need how to proceed. You can't just blow that stuff up. This is what we've been looking for, Decker, and we have to find out what we're dealin' with."

Decker continued to protest, but Auggie told him he'd call him back to set up the deal, and hung up. He grabbed his laser cane and headed out of his office toward Joan's. This could be the hardest part of his next mission, he thought, glibly.

He knocked and the door opened slightly as he tapped it.

"Come in, Auggie," Joan said.

Auggie closed the door behind him and strode purposefully across to her desk, stopping as both his memory and his laser cane alerted him where it was.

"I have a way in," he started off. "Before you say anything, hear me out."

"I don't like the sound of this," Joan said, folding her hands in front of her, ready to listen to him, as she always did. Even when she vehemently disagreed. As she did this time.

When Auggie was finished laying out his plan, he stopped, and he waited for it.

"Auggie—"

"I know Joan, I'm not signed off for field work any more. I know. You all tell me this every minute of every mission. But who else can get it? Tosca is our best bet. If they are bringing those weapons here, to this warehouse, they mean business. It's bigger than smuggling in guns for a rogue Russian army. That dog is trained for this. For this exact thing. You used her last year with the Arundel mission. You used her for the Hutchner thing. Come on, Joan, you _know_ this will work."

"She's not a Guide Dog,"Auggie.

"I don't _need_ a Guide Dog, Joan. That's the best part. She doesn't have to be a Guide Dog. She has to be able to tell if there are biological weapons. I just need to be close enough to be able to make it to the meet on my own. She'll have a harness; it will look good to anyone who isn't trained in Guide Dog behaviour. And I don't think these guys have that. Joan, y'gotta let me do this. It's the only way in. I go in as a contact for Boden. It's perfect. Word won't have gotten out that we caught him and have in custody. We can use him as my boss. He doesn't want to get burned again, so he uses me as a sign of honour. I can't look, I can't tell. I can be indebted to Boden after a bad meth experience or something. Maybe he took me in after I went blind. Look, Joan, it can be quick, I can get in with the dog, and get the yes or no. If it's potentially dangerous to the environment on exposure, we can't go gunning in there with a team. And we can't get the warehouse they're bringing them to if we can't track them. And if they're bringing them here, Joan, I don't need to give you any warning about what they plan on doing with them. Let me go, Joan. Let me set this up. Decker has the in. He'll be there. It'll be okay."

"And if it goes sideways? What do I do then, Auggie? You are not safe; I won't risk you being there in the middle of a bike gang with guns all around you. You'll blow Decker's cover; he'll have to get you out."

Auggie clenched his fists, biting his lips. "No, he won't, because it won't go sideways. I go in, I get the yes or no, and she gets the scent. We can use her in every warehouse in DC after to find the other one if we have to."

"Auggie, I'm sorry. I can't sign off on this."

"Joan—"

"I said no, Auggie. End of conversation."

Auggie thought about saying something else and then he shook his head in frustration and turned a one-eighty. He found the doorknob and opened the door, passing through without another word.

Barber obviously knew what was good for him when he didn't ask Auggie any questions as his boss returned to his desk and got back to work. Auggie didn't bother to sate his curiosity. He put his headphones on but instead of using them for screen reader feedback, he plugged into some Mingus. He hadn't listened to it at work for a long time, and he needed something to calm him at the moment. He leaned back in the chair, his fingers sliding expertly over the Braille display between his command typing. He lost himself in his work but not his intention. He researched Boden, the one connection they managed to grab. Boden knew nothing of Belenko, only that he was working for a man named Ortsa Maskhadov. He'd only spoken to him over the phone to arrange shipment and payments.

It would be so easy, thought Auggie. They _had_ Boden in custody. They could get him to make the arrangement. They had a good hand and Auggie wanted to make the deal. And here was Joan, putting the kibosh on the whole affair without even thinking about it. Like _every_ time. The big paper pushers from the seventh floor slapped his hand and pushed him back to his desk. After the missions he put in the bag for them, they treated him like he had never done a mission in his life. He had been valuable to them before _and_ after that bomb, both on and off the field. He'd proved it more than once. And then, every single time, they gave him this runaround.

Around two, the door opened, and Annie walked in.

"Hey," Auggie said, smiling at her.

"Never fails you, does it?"

"My Annie radar? Nope. Never does. What's up?"

"I'm translating some documents. I was at the Smithsonian all morning."

"Well, that's good, you need to keep your NOC safe."

"Yeah, but it was sooo boring," Annie said, sitting against his desk. "I'm dying for a coffee. Wanna take a walk?"

Auggie felt his watch, and then opened his drawer, sliding the laser cane in and then pulling his white cane from the other drawer. He put his computer to sleep and Annie wrapped her arm around Auggie's as they headed down to the Starbucks and then out for a walk on the grounds.

"You're quiet," Annie said, heading towards a bench.

Auggie held his coffee and his folded cane in one hand and her elbow in his other. He wasn't sure whether he even wanted to tell Annie his brilliant plan and it's fast shut-down. It slammed his pride. He still wanted her to look up to him as a capable man, and when they closed the book on him, it was a gut-punch to his pride. He didn't want Annie to see him being told he was too disabled for action.

"It's just been a busy day," Auggie said. "We got some good intel and I'm working on a plan. Decker's a good operative. I think we'll have that local warehouse here in our hands in no time. But there's been a hitch and I don't know how to work around it. I've been trying to work it out all morning. Joan shut me down."

"She knows you and Decker have good history. She'll come around. He's safe, right?"

"Yeah, he's safe."

"You want to keep him down there? Joan wants to bring him back, right? I know she has a hard time believing he won't bolt on her."

"No, not quite."

"Here's the bench. So, can you tell me this little plan, or is it above my clearance?"

Auggie reached down and grazed his fingers along the bench, and then he turned and sat, putting his cane beside him. He took a sip of his coffee and sighed.

"It's a perfect op," he said in a low voice. "Every time, she turns me down."

"You," Annie said, with intuition as usual into Auggie's mind.

"Yeah."

"Auggie..."

"Don't say it."

"You are a good operative."

"Don't you mean _were_?"

"No, I mean you _are_. I've seen it. And I know you plan better than anyone I know. For everything. It's what you do. Me, I have no plan, I make it up as I go, and maybe that's more reckless then sending you. But, Auggie, she _does_ have reason to worry. As much as you _hate_ to say it, you do have a huge disadvantage going out there now."

"Not this time," Auggie said. "This time, it's an advantage. I can use it to our benefit for this one."

"Okay," Annie said. "Tell me this plan. If I think it makes any sense for you to do this, I will go to Joan myself and go to bat for you."

\ "Thanks, Annie, but this one's mine. My constant battle in this place. Seventh floor bureaucracy. I could have the cleanest, clearest plan to take down a terrorist cell, with a no-fail back-up plan to go with it, and they would still tell me I can't do it. Hell, there could be a mission in the darkest caves of Afghanistan with no lights and they'd pass me over for a sighted spy who couldn't figure his way out of a corner."

"I believe in you, Auggie. I've seen what you can do in the field. But I worry when this gets into your head. You frustrate yourself and it makes you angry. If she did let you do whatever this plan you have in your brilliant, genius mind, I would worry about you."

"Because I'm blind," Auggie said. "If I were like Ryan McQuaid, you'd be all in for me being out there, and you being impressed."

"That's a low blow, Auggie. I never felt that way."

"He wasn't hindered like I am. Didn't that make it exciting? Annie, I just want a chance."

Instead of getting angrier, Annie took his coffee from his hand and set it down. She took both of his hands in hers.

"I believe in _you_, Auggie. I'm with _you_, because _you_ excite me and impress me. I would worry about you the same way you worry about me when I'm out there in the field. You're my _fiancé_, August Anderson, and that changes everything for me, not whether you're blind. I worry about my fiancé. Is that wrong?"

Auggie took a huge breath. He'd said the wrong thing, and he knew it. "I'm sorry, Annie."

"You're talking out of frustration. Look, what you and Decker are doing is getting us lots of information. If there was a way he could get a detector in there, somehow. I mean, you guys will figure it out, two smarties like you."

"That's just it," Auggie said. "I already have figured it out."

He could tell Annie had the same misgivings Joan had. It didn't matter who it was, they still saw that he had way too much going against him to be out in the field. And why the hell wouldn't they? He would have misgivings about a blind operative going out in the field. But this wasn't someone else, this was _him_ and he knew he could do this.

The coffee cup was placed back in his hand and Annie picked up his other hand and held it as she sipped her own coffee, looking over their surroundings calmly. Auggie felt that ground him to her calmness. He patiently waited to hear what she would say.

"Auggie, clearly you have this one figured out. Which doesn't surprise me. You always do. I believe you know exactly how to do this and win. But you going in alone, Hun, none of us do this. Even Decker has two agents on call at all times down there."

Auggie let her pragmatic side wash over him for a moment. She was right. He could not go in without backup. That would be foolish.

He took a breath, squeezed her hand, and proceeded to tell her in a low voice all the details he'd worked out and replayed over and over in his head until they were sound and tight. Annie didn't interrupt. When he was finished, he heard a smile in her voice when she spoke.

"That's a pretty wicked plan, Auggie."

Auggie sat up a little and turned his head toward her. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's go-ood," she drawled out.

Auggie finished his coffee. "It's too bad Joan pulled the plug on it before I had a chance."

Annie said nothing. She drank her coffee instead.

"You ready?"

Auggie unfolded his cane and stood. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said, holding his hand up, waiting for her contact.

They headed back into Langley, and back to the DPD. Annie walked with Auggie back to his office, like she always did, unless he walked her back to the one she shared with a couple of others in her department. He found the doorknob and let Annie through first, but he stopped as he felt both her and his laser cane alerting him to her stopping.

"Joan," Annie said.

"Joan," Auggie repeated, wondering why Joan Campbell was waiting for him in his office.

"You were right, Auggie. What can I say, but you're right on this. It's our fastest and easiest way of figuring out what we're dealing with. I don't like it, for the record, that this is what we have to do, and I do _not_ condone you being in the field. Usually. I value you too much here.

"But, as usual, Auggie, you have put forth a pretty damn good case. And so I put in a request for this to go through. I want details, Auggie. Every last detail, typed up, and on my desk by tomorrow. We do this, we do it right. You'll have back-up and if I have to, I'll haul your ass all the way back here myself if you decide to go outside the plan. If it fails, you come home. We'll get you out, but Auggie, it needs to be exact. You can't divert from a plan, you don't have the wiggle room that someone who can see has. At all. This dog is _not_ a guide dog; she can't keep you from falling over things or going into danger. And while you have more skill than anyone I know at thinking on your feet, the logistics around this all come back to you being blind. You have limitations. I do _not_ want you to be reckless."

Auggie tried not to smile at all during this lecture. Joan always came through for him, despite her protective nature over her favourite operative and co-worker since he'd come back to work in her department. The whole speech was part of her job, she needed to rap his knuckles and push him out the door to success in one fell swoop. She also did _not_ want this coming back on her if something should happen. So nothing could happen, thought Auggie, he would not be Joan's liability.

"I'm sure he read you in," Joan said to Annie.

"Yes."

"Then keep some sense in him. I need no cracks in your cover. Not one."

"Got it," Auggie said.

"Tomorrow. On my desk." Joan passed by them both, and left the office, closing the door behind them.

Auggie turned to Annie. "That happened, right?"

"That happened. Looks like you're going to Texas."

Auggie's grin grew as he headed over to his computer. "Barber?"

"No-one's here," Annie assured him. "Joan must have scared them off."

"Annie," he said. "You wanna help me do some research on Guide Dogs tonight?"

"You bet," she said. "This should be good."

"Hey, I catch on fast."

"I never doubt that. I'm more interested to see what Tosca does."

"It needs to look real enough to a bunch of bikers, that's all."

"Maybe one of those bikers has a blind mother, Auggie," Annie teased him. "Facts straight,"

"I know. That's what I'm saying, Annie, tonight, we need to do some homework. As for right now," Auggie sat in his chair and started typing on his keyboard. "I have to work up a dossier."

He imagined Annie grinning a little as he heard her heels step toward him. She put her hand on his back and leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Go at it, Mr. Bond," she said, giggling, and turned back out of his office. He smiled, remembering all the pep talks she had given to him over the years. He hated that he'd just doubted her belief in him. She never had before, if he didn't count the one time in Paris. He didn't count that. He counted before the bullshit, and then he counted after the bullshit. The part in the middle he chalked up to the chaotic-evil roll of a twenty-sided die. It all went murky for a while, and all blame got lost in the black hole that was that whole year. They had let it go.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Can I get you anything, Mr. Shamper?"

"No, thank-you. I'm fine." Tucked under his chair, wearing a Guide Dog harness, was the biological weapons-sniffing dog, Tosca. Auggie had felt a split-second of guilt, having the dog imitating a Service Dog, and then he realised that he wasn't taking advantage of anything since he was really blind.

Decker was briefed to not make _any_ recognition of Auggie, not to help him in any way. They were not to make contact to each other, only through Eric Barber back in Langley. Auggie was to go in by cab to the meeting place. He would get out at the gate and walk to the warehouse. He had the coordinates in his phone, in case, but he wasn't counting on needing it. He'd get close to the loading zone, and he'd keep very close contact with the dog. He'd trained all afternoon with Tosca's partner on how the dog reacted to finding traces of biological warfare of several varieties. The dog sat, then stood, then sat, and whined. The dog scratched her front paws. Auggie learned to tell what was Tosca's training, and what was excitement over her partner bringing her a treat. The smallest amount, a vial with a stopper, and Tosca reacted. Auggie was amazed.

He then learned rudimentary Guide Dog training, as did Tosca. She was an intelligent dog, but she had never worn a device with such a responsibility. She wasn't sure what was expected of her. Auggie felt okay about that, too. That part wasn't her responsibility, she already had a job. In fact, thought Auggie, _he_ was _her_ cover.

Decker had set up the meet. Or rather, one of Decker's club brothers had set it up by way of a phone call placed from an untraceable phone call from Langley by Boden himself, who had had a small bit of encouragement by way of a conversation about relocating his wife and three kids to somewhere under protection and never letting him see them again. He only dealt in guns, he said. None of this was worth this higher-up secret government shit. He was only interested in strippers and getting a hit of a bong every now and again, maybe a bit of target practise, but this stuff they were talking about, he had no interest in. And so he made the call.

"You don't want eyes and ears on your operation," Boden told them. "What could be better than my buyer? He's blind. He won't see any single man on your site. He won't see the warehouse, or any of the surroundings. What more can I say to show you I'm trustworthy? You think I've gone legit? Where do you think I've been, I was hauled in for possession of a couple of kilos, but I don't talk, I serve and I get out. And now I'm out of there, and I want back in here. I've known this guy three goddamn years, he worked for my production team over in San Benito. You know... poor bastard, the methanol in the lab, you know. Make the deal. You take the goods to Mathis, we pick them up from there. My man comes away with no scratches, you get my word, his word, the money is yours, it's all simple and you don't have to worry."

Auggie would go in, inspect the goods as best as he could, set up the accounts, and pay them cash. Then he'd call his cab back and he'd be out, with either a positive or a negative on the use of the warehouse as a transport site for illusive biological warfare.


	21. Chapter 21

**I disclaim ownership of Covert Affairs, only for legal reasons. However, I claim ownership of Covert Affairs because it is mine forevermore. I make no money from my love. Love is not about money. And that is what I wish the legal owners of Covert Affairs understood.**

Chapter Twenty-One

"I'm here," Auggie said into the phone as he made a first pass around the perimeter of the safe-house to get his bearings.

"Good. You have three hours until the meet, just lay low until then. A cab will come for you at two-forty-five," said Barber.

"Got it," Auggie said, hit cane hitting some furniture. He reached out and felt a padded chair pushed against the wall. He made his way around it. "Briggs and Logan?"

"They're on route now. They'll be within shooting distance."

"Well," said Auggie, finding his way around a table and a wooden cupboard of some kind. "That's comforting."

"Just make sure you... aw, what am I saying, you know what you're doing," Barber said. "Just be careful, Man."

"Careful is my middle name," said Auggie groaning inwardly at his expression.

"Yeah, okay, Auggie. But you need to _be_ it. And call us before you go. We got eyes and ears on you at all times."

"Thanks, Eric. I will."

Auggie finished the call and put the phone in his pocket. He continued around the room, for lack of anything else to do at the moment. He felt anxious, ready for the action, ready to find out what exactly they were moving into the country. He was excited, the old surge of adrenaline picking up in his veins. He also felt uncertain. This was, by far, his most challenging op since being benched. He wasn't with Annie. He wasn't with anyone. This was all him. He tried not to let that thought overtake him. This was going to go off as planned. No-one would suspect a blind guy, and they could test him all they cared to, but that part of his cover would always stand up.

He heard the dog stand up, her claws clicking on the floor as she moved to a cooler spot, and then he heard the thud of her elbows and her haunches as she dropped back down to the floor to wait.

"We're going to do this, it's going to be fine," Auggie said to the dog. The dog didn't make any kind of reply. Auggie felt stupid.

"Well, okay, Tosca, don't let me down, this is going to be a big show for us." He heard the dog's tail thump against the floor at her name. Auggie moved over, finding his way with his cane, until he was close to the thumping tail. There was a wooden chair nearby, he hit it with his cane. He reached out and found the back of it and slid it closer to the dog, sitting down. Tosca's tail thumped harder. Auggie reached down and felt her fur. He followed the fur's direction backwards, up to the neck and the head, feeling the soft, velvety ears that stood, perked up to the sounds around the empty house. He'd felt the dog's form from head to toe already before, but he did it again, patting her as he did so. He wondered, if he hadn't been told, if he could have guessed she was a German Sheppard. He figured he probably would have, since that was a very popular breed for a working dog, and would have been his first guess. The ears and the snout were his second hint, and the tail, now wagging as he inspected her, was definitely the third.

"Well, Tosca, it's just you and me, now. I mean, we have back up, but it's our show. Actually," Auggie pondered, "it's really your show. I'm just your front man." He gave the dog a couple of pats. "I seriously have no idea if I should have come up with this, Tosca. I mean, when I think about it, it's crazy. I mean, what sane person would be doing this in the first place, let alone blind? Do you think I'm off my rocker, hey, Girl?"

The dog nuzzled Auggie's hand. Clearly she agreed.

"Yeah. I'm clearly unhinged," he said, patting her side. "I'm discussing my sanity with a dog." Auggie smiled to himself, and then stood, continuing to familiarise himself with the safe-house, for lack of anything better to do.

At the designated time, a quarter to three, Auggie made his way outside with Tosca. If all went well, he'd be back here within two hours, waiting for his two flanking guards to whisk him back to the æroport, back to DC, back to Joan's consenting nod. Back to Annie.

If it didn't go well...

He had three back-up plans. And none of them were very good.

It just simply needed to go off as planned, thought Auggie, as he heard the car approach and give a beep. He assumed this was meant for him, but he never really could tell with cabs, unless they came for him, which some of the more thoughtful ones did when they realised. He had often been pressed to admit when he called for cab that he was blind and would they please be sure to let him know they were there for him directly. This time, he figured a white cane and a Guide Dog would be tip-off enough, but it didn't seem to avoid the one honk of the car horn.

He hadn't stopped to consider how hard it was to hang on to a harness and use his cane, _and_ find the car door and open it. He turned his hand inward and let his hand graze down the side of the car, Tosca obediently moving along beside him. Second door handle. Auggie pulled it open and the dog jumped inside. Auggie gave the address of the warehouse to the driver and then he sat back, closing his eyes, breathing calmly. He did the opposite of what he had done while in the army during strikes. Instead of pumping himself up, as he had done in the early days, he had learned to calm himself down. He knew that it had started with Billy's Mingus albums. Billy had insisted on listening to the smooth jazz and it had somehow centred them all on their mission, without all the added adrenaline of hard core music that some soldiers preferred before battle. They'd had enough adrenaline from the get-go. Auggie didn't need adrenaline now. He needed clear thinking, and he needed clear senses. He needed to read the dog precisely when she detected the biological weapons he suspected. He needed to not make assumptions. He needed to make the deal without suspicion, and set up the meet for the weapons transfer. He needed to do all this without blowing the cover of a Guide Dog that wasn't a Guide Dog.

"This is it," the driver said as the car crept to a stop. "There's a gate. Am I supposed to go in?"

"No," said Auggie, gathering his things, and reaching over the console to hand the driver a bill. "Keep the change."

"Should I stay? Are you returning?"

"I hope so," said Auggie. "But I may be a while. I have your company's number in my phone. I'm happy with your service; I'll call on you again." He let the dog jump out and he unfolded his cane, too. He couldn't very well go without it, thought he was sure that a bunch of bikers weren't up on the protocol of Guide Dog use, and wouldn't question why he'd have both.

He heard the car drive away, and he took a deep breath, letting it out. Then he bent down and took the harness handle into his left hand.

"We're on," he said, walking forward. The dog moved along with him, not turning away from the gate as Auggie found it with his cane. She was following him, as she was trained to do. He hoped no-one was watching too closely. He moved along the gate and found the latch at one side. There was a lock in it that had been left hanging open. Auggie unlatched the gate and passed through, setting the lock as he'd found it. He started along the gravel road. He could hear trees around him, their leaves rustling in the slight breeze. He found the shoulder of the road with his cane and then from there, Tosca moved along quite nicely. Auggie was just getting the feel of walking alongside her, getting a little idea of what it would be like to move with an animal trained to be a partner. He'd never conceptualised it before, he'd barely scratched the notion when it was presented to him as an option. He knew the list was long for applicants, he'd heard that at rehabilitation in many a complaint. But it was a very specific duty, Auggie knew, and only the best dogs were taken. Many did not pass the final exam, and this resulted in too few dogs for too many people who needed them.

Auggie heard the rumble of a truck. He stopped, not knowing where to go to get out of its way, or even if he was in its way. The truck stopped in front of him.

"Shamper?"

"Yes?" Auggie tilted his head, trying to get a handle on the speaker.

The man climbed out. "I'm here to meet you. They said you'd need help."

Auggie shook his head. "No. I'm good. Just point out where you want me, and by point, I mean tell me exactly."

"Uh, I'm supposed to take you to the meet."

"Right. Uh. Isn't it here?"

"Yeah. But I'm supposed to take you up there."

"Well, as you can see, I'm pretty capable here, with my trusty Guide Dog."

"Yeah... well, I dunno, Man, I just do what Doc tells me, and he told me to watch out for you. And here I am. I'm just a Prospect. I do as I'm told. They told me to go get the blind man, here I am, here you are."

Auggie took a minute. "Okay," he said. Slight deviation. Close enough. He felt okay to go forward. The two men watching him would catch up. It wouldn't be far, surely. He listened to the man walk back to the vehicle and he followed the sound, making his way to the front of the truck. He trailed the back of his cane hand once again along the side until he found the door. He slid his hand up higher, searching for the door handle. For as much as people thought they were helping him, they never seemed to help with anything useful. He finally found it and ushered the dog up inside.

They didn't talk for the couple of minutes it took to get to the yard. As soon as the engine shut off, Auggie jumped out of the truck, his hand on the harness. He was not letting go of this dog, and he didn't want to hear the man say he had to leave her inside the truck, which he had fears would happen at this point.

He also knew he had to sell the dog's existence. He did not unfold his cane. He stuck it in his back pocket, and concentrated on his own feet, and the dog's direction.

"And who am I meeting?" he called out, to either his driver or whoever it was around him at this point.

"That'd be me."

Auggie turned, cocking his ear. He knew he looked the part. He wore a shabby hoodie and a worn pair of jeans. He had on what Annie had termed the ugliest, dirtiest sneakers she had ever seen and she hoped he didn't bring them back. He had a burner phone, with one number in it. He had a piece of paper in his pocket in Braille. He had his key to his safe house. Now he needed to play it.

"Doc?"

"Yeah. I take it from the dog that you're Shamper."

"Yeah." He needed to be someone that would have blinded himself cooking meth. "I'm Shamper. You got my guns? Boden has a list, and he'd rather not have to do this twice."

"He thinks you're able to know what he wants?" Auggie was absolutely positive the man was flapping his hand at his eyes. He didn't react, though he longed to reach out and snap the man's fingers back.

"No, he thinks you're able to know what he wants. I'm just the list checker." He dug out the paper. "I'll do inventory. You load it in. You meet my driver in Mathis at the scheduled place. My driver hands you the money and he and he'll take it from there."

"And my truck?"

"You keep your truck. We have our own, unmarked, untraceable. They'll make the switch, your truck comes back, and we go on our merry way. Well, not _me,_ of course. I'm off this business after this. I'm sick of this shit."

"Yeah, we hear Boden's got your cards. You ain't out until he says."

"He just feels bad because it was his meth lab that did this to me. I was his best driver. I did shit like this all the time, and it wasn't this goddam technical. Just show me what you have and load it as I check. Jesus, do I need to give diagrams? Let's just do this. I hate being a mule, and I hate being _his_ mule. He owes me for this and what do I get? Come on, Tosca. Hey, where's the merchandise?" Auggie displayed an impatience that he felt inside, but he played into displeasure and bitterness.

"Right this way."

"Tosca, forward," Auggie said, pushing on the harness and following the footsteps in front of him. The dog obeyed, and trotted along behind the man they called _Doc._ Auggie inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, and momentarily wondered if Decker was somewhere on site. He also wondered if Briggs and Logan had caught up with them yet and where they might be situated.

They mounted a ramp and then Auggie knew they had passed an opening into the warehouse, probably the loading bay. He nearly ran into the back of his dealer, since Tosca just barely stopped in time, but Auggie covered for her. He waved his list.

"I'm gonna read this off to you. I want each weapon to pass through my hands before it goes into this shipment. I'm gonna inspect each one, and I know my weapons. I was a first rate class one weapons specialist in the U.S. Army. Sharp shooter."

As he was talking, he paid attention to the canine at his feet. The dog was pulling to Auggie's right, almost across his path. Auggie distracted Doc with more rambling. He went on about PTST taking him into drugs and then getting hooked into Boden's crowd. He'd wanted out for a while, and then the chemicals in Boden's meth lab had burned his corneas and he was stuck, indebted to a man he didn't feel he owed anything to.

He could tell Doc wasn't paying attention to him, but was moving the guns with the help of a few of his club members. Again, Auggie wondered if Decker was there.

The dog was sitting and then standing. She was leaning across Auggie's legs as much as the harness would allow her and she scratched on the floor, against his sneakers as she did so. She sat again. She made a small whine and stood once more, scratching on Auggie's feet.

"Are you coming?" Doc asked. "You wanted to check these out."

"Yes," Auggie said. "Where are they?"

"Straight ahead of you. There's a truck with the gate down. Check them there."

"Tosca, forward," Auggie said, and the dog pulled away, back across him. He moved the harness, trying to distract her now, too, trying to point her in the right direction. "Tosca. Forward."

"That's not much of a Guide Dog you have there, Blind Man," said Doc, and Auggie heard a few chuckles around him.

"Yeah. She wasn't the top in her class, that's for sure. I haven't had her long. She's fine, though. No problems. I mean, she likes to chase things sometimes, but I'm sure I'll wean it out of her. Gotta teach the bitches what you want, right?" He laughed, feeling stupid, but when he heard laughter around him, he nodded.

He inspected the guns through his hands. He didn't care, really, what they were, he was all done with guns, tech was his weapon of choice now, but he recognised them enough to check them off his list, and to come across as a competent gun-runner. He tried to keep his nerves calm around so many weapons. He was definitely at a disadvantage in a gunfight, and the sound of all that gunfire would put his anxiety level above anything he could work around. It was hard to avoid bullets when one couldn't see them aimed in his direction.

"We good? You can't have any complaints. We have what you want, right?"

The dog continued to push against Auggie's knees. "You bet. I got it. Boden's gonna be a happy man, you should know."

"Well, it's about time," said Doc. "We been dealing with him a while now, and he stopped checking in. We were not happy. Man couldn't even talk to the Club? Causes a lot of stress in an organisation, you know. You better tell your Boden he'd better wise up. We're not sitting here with these guns, if he doesn't want them, we'll sell them to the next interested party."

"It was a mistake," Auggie said. "And now it's rectified. You're moving the guns, everything is just ace in the hole."

"It better not happen again, or he'll have hell to pay. It won't bother me one bit to kill a blind guy, and Boden is not that much harder to find."

"Look, I'll give him your message." He swung his head around, listening. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah, let's deliver all this to your man."

"No, _you_ deliver this to my man. I'm out of here."

"How do we know this ain't a set-up? How do I know I ain't waiting to be ambushed? Where's my money?"

"You'll get the money when you deliver the goods. The deal is made."

"You're going with us, or you're not going anywhere."

Auggie rolled his head back along his neck. He knew this would get sketchy. He knew he was going in the truck. He'd almost counted on it. It was an option that he'd written into his dossier for Joan.

"Fine. Let's get it over with. I got a piano lesson to teach and I don't need this bullshit." Auggie couldn't help it. It was times like these that he was able to just really release the sarcasm he often wanted to yell out at strangers in the street.

"You can ride in the back," the man who had driven him up told him. "Right here with your precious cargo load."

Auggie felt the gate of the truck, and then coaxed Tosca up. The driver held Auggie's arm as he climbed up behind her. He heard another two sets of footsteps climb up behind him. That would make four, if he was accurate in his guess. At the meet, there would be one driver, and Briggs and Logan would reroute. That would be his three. Decker's CIA tails would make five. Auggie felt around with his foot, looking for a place to settle down, and then he was roughly manhandled to a wooden plank on the side. The dog sat, whining the whole time, scratching on Auggie's shoe. This truck had obviously moved something more than AK-74s and Steyr assault rifles. Auggie hoped there was nothing left there now, but he knew that that would make no sense. They wouldn't travel around with that stuff. They would have had strict orders to store and move it as quickly as possible, Belenko wouldn't have screwed around with those orders. He had plans for those items, and he'd brought them into the country for a reason. And losing them in a biker deal was not something Belenko would let happen. His purpose was bigger. So Auggie, mulling this over, figured that biological weapons had been in this truck, had been in the building, were maybe still there, and were on their way to another warehouse, the one that Annie and Decker had been looking for for weeks. There was no doubt in his mind that Tosca was giving him every sign that he'd been right.

Now he just needed to finish this and get her home. It was all going to plan. Mostly.

Auggie sat, calmly, feeling the lurching of the truck. His companions didn't speak. Doc was in the front with the driver. He assumed that there was probably a gun or two at the ready, pointing at him. He dropped his head, turning his head, keeping all his attention focused on sounds. He needed to be on alert, ready to move if he had to. He kept his hand on the dog's harness.

"That must suck," said a voice. "Your eyes, I mean."

"Yeah. It's not the goddam circus," Auggie replied, not moving his head.

"Didjya ever wish you had died instead?" the man asked.

"What is this, Oprah's couch?" Auggie grumbled.

"Shit, Man, I'm just asking."

Auggie patted the dog's side. She kind of grounded him a bit, gave him something to concentrate on, to connect to. They fell back into silence as the truck rumbled along the outskirts of towns.

Finally, it came to a stop. The door was swung open and Auggie was shaken and lifted by his arm from where he sat. He kept his grip on Tosca's harness and waited for his companions to exit. He let the leash out and the dog jumped out. Auggie crouched, hating to hop into oblivion, needing to lessen the leap, and felt a hand on his arm to give him help.

"Here, Man."

_Decker._

He'd been riding in the truck with him the whole time.

"Thanks," Auggie said, holding in all signs of recognition, reaching down, picking up the harness handle again.

"Where's your truck?" Doc asked, coming around to join them.

Auggie shook his head, almost amazed at the man's words. "You're asking me to tell you where it is? Can't you see?"

"It's not here, Shamper."

"Give it a minute." Auggie hated people's patience or lack of it.

"This better not be a trap."

"Oh, will you relax?" Auggie snapped. "Why the hell would I come all this way for nothing? You think travelling around for Boden, checking for weapons, being his goddam lackey, is an easy thing for a blind man? It's not. Even with my Guide Dog. I wouldn't waste my time if there wasn't some purpose, and my purpose is to get Boden his guns, so he'll give me my money. You think a disability cheque is enough to live on these days? It's not. I just want my deal. And I'm out of your hair, and hopefully the next time, Boden will pick some other poor jackass to do his dirty work." Auggie heard the sound of a heavy gear slowing down. He threw out a little smile. "There he is."

As the truck slowed, he stood back awkwardly. The driver manoeuvred so that loading would be easier, and then climbed down from the truck.

"Shamper! You okay?"

Auggie nodded. The driver was Carl Lahey, he'd known him for a few years now. Lahey was a big man, and looked like a biker, or so Auggie had been told. He loved ops where he got to be a gun runner. It was right up his alley.

"It all there?" Lahey asked, moving toward where Auggie stood with Tosca.

"It's all there," he replied.

"Of course it's all there," said Doc. "I don't renege on my deals, you can tell your boss that. And that's why I'm here personally. I want to make sure you know I'm a serious dealer. We need to fortify our brothers to the north and east."

"Are you dealing with anyone up the coast?" asked Lahey. "We want full guarantee no-one trades on our turf."

"You're our only contact," said Doc. "Big man's got his own business, you want to know, you ask Maskhadov."

"Maskhadov?" said Auggie. "Russian bike gang?"

"No bike gang. Importer. Enough of this shit. I'm not hanging around shooting the breeze all day with you all. Load 'er up."

Just as they were beginning to move the crates from one vehicle to the other, Auggie heard another vehicle approaching. He stood still, holding the dog steady, willing the vehicle to pass.

It didn't.

"Aw, shit," Doc said. "What the hell are they doing here?"

"Who? Who is it?" Auggie needed someone to answer him here. No-one did. He tipped his head, trying to get the best angle on sounds.

A voice moved close and passed by, softly muttering, "It's the Bandidos. Seven."

Auggie's shoulders tensed. This was not a part of his dossier. Gang run-ins were not in the plan. Decker giving him the heads up as he went by would only give him a few moments of planning on his feet. He stayed exactly where he was and put all his focus on the sound around him.

"Who are these?" asked a voice moving to his left. Auggie could detect a regional accent in the voice. "You said you would not branch out, _Hermano_. You said we would be your only customers. What is this, _esé_? Who are these?"

"Boden's men," Doc said. "You have no such deal with us, Jemenez. We had a deal when Padilla was in charge, but you stepped on that."

"I want to see what it is you're selling to the _gabachos_," Jemenez said, moving forward.

Auggie jumped as a bullet exploded into the ground at the Mexican's feet. Tosca leapt in her harness and barked.

"You stay there," said Doc to Jemenez. "You. Take that truck."

Auggie tried to follow the random conversation that seemed to be taking effect in a less-than-positive outcome. He assumed Doc was now motioning to Lahey, but then there were boots moving on his left, and another shot. Auggie backed away, not wanting to end up a victim in a shooting game of chicken. There was a shout and then another shot. Auggie ducked, off the road now, trying to follow Tosca, stumbling over dry, tall grass. He didn't know how visible he was still, but he just wanted to get out of the turf war, not knowing how he was going to get back to the right outcome of this. He didn't care about the guns, none of them did, with the exception of getting them off the street, but he needed to know that Decker and Lahey were okay, and that they'd get out of this mess. He fell over a mound of earth, and got back up, trying to keep the sound of the shouting and guns behind him. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, just as he hit a metal fence, knocking him sideways. He stumbled again, and the dog covered over him, and then pulled him, half-walking, half-dragging, around the side of a cement wall.

Auggie pulled her close. She may not have been a good Guide Dog, but she was well-schooled in saving her partner. And, Auggie thought with spite, she wasn't the worst guide he'd ever had.

The next thing he heard was sirens, and more shouting. The Bandidos jumped into their truck and pulled off quickly. Auggie heard the other engines starting, and he heard a shout from Decker.

"What about the blind guy?!"'

"Forget him, leave him, what's he gonna do?"

The sounds of squealing tires, and then nothing but the echo of sirens.

Auggie panicked for a moment, and then he heard shouts. Briggs and Logan were calling his name, and Lahey's name. Auggie waited, until he realised they were in the clear if they were calling his own name instead of _Shamper_. He stood, moving around into their view.

"Lahey?" He called, stepping forward, the dog trotting along in front of him as he tried not to stumble over the uneven terrain. He reached into his back pocket for his cane, which had stayed wedged down against his backside and up his back, and still moving forward, pulled the cord off with one hand, letting it drop open. "Lahey? Briggs!"

"He's down, Auggie. Are you okay?" He heard the footsteps thumping forward to meet him.

"Is he okay? Is he alive?" Auggie said as the sound of sirens stopped around him.

"Help is here," said Briggs. "We'll get you both home."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie listened to the sound of the police radios around him as he sat in the cruiser. They were loading Lahey into an ambulance with stable vitals. Auggie had his phone to his ear, and only one ring sounded.

"Auggie," Barber's voice sounded tense.

"I'm checking in, Man," Auggie said. "Just another day in the field."

He heard Barber let out a huge gush of air. "Someone wants to talk to you," he said.

Auggie patted the dog beside him, waiting for the phone to be passed.

"Hey, Sweet Cheeks," said Annie. "So, you did that, then, huh?"

Auggie laughed. He knew there'd be hell to pay with the seventh floor, but he also knew this one was a win, and he knew Annie knew it, too.

"You weren't worried about me, were you, Walker?"

"You? Never," Annie said, and he could hear the smile in her voice.


	22. Chapter 22

**I make nothing off writing this Covert Affairs story for anyone. I don't own it. I do own heaps of sadness about what the owners of this show did to it. I am not ashamed to admit it. I will never love again. Please review.**

Chapter Twenty-Two

"I'm calling the shots on this one, Decker, and I'm pulling the plug," Auggie said into the phone, his fingers running over the Braille display under his keyboard. "You're coming back now," he ordered.

"I'm close, Auggie. You want that warehouse, I'm on it. We've been looking in the wrong place. I'm telling you, Auggie, just give me—"

"Pulling the plug," Auggie repeated. "Bringing you back in."

This was the part Auggie had worried about. Would Decker listen to him when it came time to jump off? His neck was on the line with Joan and Calder; he'd backed James one hundred percent.

Decker was not happy about Auggie's decision, and only reluctantly acquiesced to returning to DC. Auggie gave him his cover, his out, and made arrangements to cover Decker's ass so they wouldn't come after him as a traitor or a deserter.

It had been three days since the trade went down. While, on the surface, it seemed the trade had gone sideways, it actually hadn't. The guns and ammo were confiscated, and in custody, Lahey's wound wasn't serious, and he was home, recovering, and Tosca gave them a definite positive on the contents of the warehouse in Texas, as well as a truck. The MC had split with the money, with Decker still undercover, leaving the guns to Auggie and the downed driver, and the _Bandidos_ had split just as fast.

Decker had checked in as soon as he could. Auggie had returned to the safe house with Agent Briggs while Logan had travelled with Lahey to the hospital, and all were safe back in DC by nightfall. Decker had checked in with Auggie soon after he arrived at Langley, and had assured him that there was no suspicion within the MC about the activity that had gone down.

For the rest of the day, Auggie manoeuvred two operatives through their missions and had a meeting with his tech crew about a new development to his Hummingbird programme. Decker checked in with Auggie in his office before he left for the evening. Auggie was grateful, more than he would express to his friend. He didn't want James to think he had an ounce of doubt in his mind.

Joan had seemed pleased. At least, she wasn't _displeased_. Which was the same thing, in Auggie's book. She thanked Decker, she congratulated Auggie, and she left it at that. Auggie knew that wasn't the end of the mission, and he knew she knew it wasn't the end of the mission, but Decker's part in it was finished. And it had not been a disaster. Once again, Auggie had come through for Joan Campbell.

Logan had been assigned to the renewed search for the DC warehouse. Briggs was deep in paper for the past two days. Decker had been given a few days off to mend from his time with the bikers. Auggie worked on their next direction, and Joan and Annie continued to work on the Russian angle. The countdown was on.

Two mornings later, Barber tracked Auggie down and told him there was a call from Decker in his office. Auggie was puzzled, as Decker was still off work, and not expected in until Monday.

"Thanks, Eric," he said, and listened for Barber to step out and close the door.

He slid his hand over and snapped his finger down on the button. "Decker," he said.

"Hey, Auggie. I think I have something you want to see. I mean... well, metaphorically."

"No, I got it, go on. Where are you? You're supposed to be home, drinking a beer, enjoying the sun I hear is streaming down."

"Yeah, well, I tried. But I got a hunch."

"Decker."

"I know. I'll be shut up in a second if you tell Joan I'm not sitting at home with a beer. I've found it. What we're looking for. I've been watching it for thirty-six hours. There's been activity only once. As far as I know, it's not used for any sort of meet. It's kept hidden."

"And how do you know this is the one?"

"I don't. But Tosca would."

Auggie closed his eyes and chewed on his lip.

"They won't let me go in again," Auggie said.

"Then come on your own. Take a long lunch."

"Ah, shit, Decker... why do you do this to me? I couldn't explain my way out of this, whatever the result."

"If this is where the weapons are, then this is where he'll come."

"He won't want to be anywhere near that stuff if he's planning on setting it off."

"He's orchestrating it, Auggie. That's all I heard when I was in Texas. He's got plans. No-one knew his goal, but word was out that he was coming in to put things into the hands of the right people. They seemed afraid of him, but they all believed he was going to make their trades more lucrative and less prone to what they thought were attacks by the law."

Auggie groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Decker was doing exactly what he was not supposed to do. And yet, Auggie knew he couldn't send anyone in to shut it down. He couldn't explain why he knew without blowing Decker's rogue mission. He couldn't leave it to fate. Decker had involved him now, and if all else failed, he would assume responsibility. If he was going to be put in the doghouse, he wanted to at least go in with some arsenal. He also didn't want Decker out on his own, maybe still holding that vendetta in a small place in his mind. Decker wasn't going to leave on his own, that was certain.

He couldn't explain needing Tosca on his lunch break, either. It wasn't like she was of any use to a blind guy, but he needed her expertise on the matter. He'd need paperwork and signatures in order to get her out of the building, and he didn't even know whether she was on site on days she wasn't called for service.

His mind was working fast. He had to go, assure Decker he was taken seriously, get evidence to take back to Joan, and bring Decker back in. If this was the warehouse, they needed more than one agent going in. And if this was where Belenko was headed, then they both needed protection. He needed to get Decker out, and then they could set a plan to capture Belenko and secure the site.

_Damn it, Decker_, thought Auggie, sliding his laser cane back into the drawer and taking out his white cane. He took his messenger bag, putting in some envelopes, sealing bags, lock-picking tools, and making sure there was a small penknife and his phone. Auggie felt unprepared for this. This was one of those times it would be nice to have a gun in his hand. He added his little safety box of tricks, elastics, paper clips, paper napkins, electrical tape, and a lighter. He had his earbuds and his watch. He took a deep breath, and left his office.

"Oh, hey, Auggie, you headin' out?" asked Barber, passing by, stopping him.

"Uh, yeah, Barber, I'm going across town to meet someone and have lunch."

"Annie's here," Barber said, confused.

"I _know_ she's here," Auggie said. "Just meeting an old combat buddy." _No lies there_.

"Oh, cool. Well, good times, Man. Don't rehash the bad."

"Yeah. Right, okay, Barber. Hey, listen, if Joan leaves before I get back, tell her I'll meet her first thing in the morning. And if Annie asks—"

"No way, Dude, I'm not going there. You tell Annie yourself."

"I am, Eric. I was just going to tell you to tell Annie I'll bring her back the cream puffs she likes if she waits for me later on. And if you tell her that, I'll even get you some cream puffs."

"Hey, I won't say no to cream puffs. Have a good time." Eric touched Auggie's arm and headed back into the office. Auggie right-turned and headed out to catch a cab. He had to go a lot further than the other side of town. The meter was ticking as the first hour passed. Auggie kept his mind on the game, both in talking Decker down, and finding out if the area was a threat. He knew that he needed to phone it in. He had no choice. But he wanted Decker out of there first, and then they could secure the building. Belenko was not worth the lives of everyone in the area, not worth Decker's life, nor worth his own. He'd already nearly died once because of the man. When Decker called, on cue, to make sure Auggie was on his way, Auggie reassured him that he was coming, and told him not to make any kind of move, no matter what, until he got there.

Well into the second hour, Auggie felt the road change as the taxi headed down a gravel road toward the Rappahannock River. He prepared himself mentally. Talking soldiers down was something he had been good at. He was naturally calm and rational, and his mind could work around problems efficiently. He knew what Decker was going through, and he was extra-glad that Decker had called him.

He paid his cab fare and climbed out of the vehicle. He waited, listening to the car head back down the road, the rocks pinging under the tires. He turned, leaning on his cane, waiting for Decker, hoping that he wasn't as conspicuous as he felt.

"Auggie." Decker jogged toward him, his boots striking the ground. He patted Auggie's arm. "Come on, it's clear. No-one has come since last night."

"Decker, this is not smart," Auggie said, taking his elbow and turning with him.

"Where's the dog?" asked Decker.

"I couldn't get the dog. Not without raising every question possible in Langley. We'll take something back for her, how about that? Then we can put a team in."

"He won't come if the place is crawling. We need him once and for all, Auggie."

Auggie took a deep breath. "What are the visuals?" he asked, sighing.

Decker took him through the surroundings: trees, river, chain-link fence, gravel loading area, crates, bike parts, car parts. It looked like a typical warehouse site.

"How did you find this place?" Auggie asked, as Decker placed his hand on the fence.

"Tracker on that last shipment."

"Nice work, James," Auggie said, listening to Decker begin to climb the fence. "Is there barbed wire at the top?"

"No. Standard top wire. No biggie." Auggie could tell he'd stopped. "Shit, Auggie, can you...?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Auggie folded his cane and put it in his bag, and started to climb. He had a bit of trouble at the top, but he managed to get over and climb down the other side.

The times in the gym with Decker climbing the pegboard paid off. "You're about three feet off, you can jump," Decker informed him.

They started in toward the warehouse, Auggie connected to Decker's arm, trying not to stumble over the ruts in the yard as they hurried along,

"Big loading door. Small service door."

"Lock?"

"Padlock, deadbolt."

"Can we pick it?" Auggie asked, reaching into his bag.

Decker turned, watching Auggie take out the lock-picking tools. "You are never unprepared, are you?"

Auggie gave him a half-weary smile. "I can't ever be unprepared in my business," he said, squeezing his eyes closed for emphasis.

"Oh, right," said Decker, taking the tools from him.

They were inside within minutes. Auggie stepped in behind James, turning his head, scanning for sound dimensions, waiting for Decker to tell him the visuals. It was dry, no water dripping, no smell of mould. The floor was cement.

"Uh, Auggie, I don't see any guns."

"Well, what _do_ you see?"

"There are shelves. Empty. There are some containers and... what looks like rubber hosing. Rope. On the right, there are car parts: mufflers, exhausts, tires, batteries."

"The containers. Are they marked in any way?"

"Recycled oil, I'd say," Decker guessed.

They stepped further into the warehouse. Auggie had no clue what he was going to take back as evidence. He had to rely on James to find them something useful.

"I kinda lied about something," Decker said slowly.

Auggie felt something tighten around his lungs. "What?" he asked, without any idea as to what Decker could be referring to.

"I said I didn't know when Belenko was coming."

Auggie heard the sound of a vehicle driving near to the doors of the warehouse. He turned to Decker, angrily. "Jeezus, Decker, what have you done?"

"We got him, Auggie. You and me."

"Decker. I'm not the same man as before! I can't be here, in a gunfight! We had a way, a safe way! What the hell? The door!" Auggie spun around. It was closed but unlocked. Maybe they'd think one of the workers had left it. Auggie pulled Decker's arm. "Hide!" he demanded in a whisper.

Decker grabbed Auggie and together they moved quickly across the floor. James pushed down on Auggie's shoulder and Auggie bent down, squatting behind something. He automatically put his hand out to see what it was. Barrels.

He heard men's voices, not happy-sounding ones, either, but one of them was a voice he would never forget. He felt Decker, pressing close, squeeze his arm. He knew it, too.

They were speaking Russian. Decker peered around their camouflage. Auggie felt his hand tap on Auggie's arm. He put his other hand out and touched three fingers resting on Auggie's forearm. Then, two fingers, and the motion of them walking across his arm.

Belenko had two henchmen with him. Three armed men against one armed man and a blind guy, with no weapon but a penknife. Unless they could disarm them, which seemed very unlikely.

"Search this building!" Belenko ordered. "They think they are ahead of me. Ha!"

Auggie's mind was racing. Without eye contact with Decker, it made it so much harder to hatch a plan quickly. He kept his hand over Decker's, and in a moment, Decker indicated one finger. Then he formed his hand into a gun, and tapped his finger twice. Auggie nodded. Decker pointed one finger towards Auggie and gestured to the man approaching. Then he pointed at himself and flicked his wrist toward where Belenko issued orders, watching the door. Auggie nodded again, and readied himself to spring.

He felt Decker's muscles tense and react, and felt James twist their opponent into him as Decker ripped the gun from the man's hands. Auggie grabbed the man by his shoulders and threw him down into one of the barrels as he heard a shot fired. He kept one hand on the man's neck and struck out as hard as he could with the other fist, knocking the man's head against the floor. He heard a scraping and another shot zinged up into the rafters. Auggie instinctively ducked, his mind desperate to make sense of the sounds around him.

"Put the gun down!" he heard Decker shout, "or I'll kill him now."

"Shoot him!" Belenko screamed. "SHOOT THEM BOTH!"

Auggie heard the click of the gun as the man aimed for Decker. Auggie only assumed it was Decker because Decker was the one with a gun to Belenko's head. He stood and ran towards that sound, and as his feet pounded against the cement, he heard Decker yell, distracting the gunman enough for Auggie to tackle him, which Auggie did, hard, just off-centre enough to throw the gunman's balance off, though the weapon was fired again. Auggie heard the sound of liquid pouring out of something, a container of some kind. He hoped it was the oil Decker had suggested. He heard the gun clatter across the floor. He wrestled with the man, and was flipped onto his back. Thrusting out with his feet, he kicked the man back and rolled over, onto his hands and knees. He heard two footsteps come close and he moved fast, pulling the man over his back and then pinning him. He felt the man struggling, and he held his hands over the man's windpipe, just until the man fell unconscious.

"What's in that!" he heard Decker demand.

Belenko laughed. It was the most disgusting sound Auggie had heard. He felt around where he'd heard the gun come to a stop, his hands scanning the floor until one hit the gun, causing it to slide a little further. He picked it up and emptied the chamber. If he couldn't use the damn thing, no-one else sure as hell would.

"Decker?!" Auggie needed information.

"We got the sonofabitch," Decker said, jerking the man down.

"What's leaking, Decker?"

"What is it?!" Decker yelled at Belenko. "Tell me!" He pulled the man out of the warehouse, yelling for Auggie to follow. Auggie threw the gun to the side and put his hand out, moving quickly toward the open door. Finding the frame of the door he poked his foot out, finding the ledge to step over. The whole time, Decker was yelling at Belenko, demanding to know the contents of the barrels, demanding to know where the weapons were, pulling him away. Auggie could hear the sounds of Belenko's boots half-dragging across the gravel. He kept his guard up, turning his head, listening to the surroundings, aware of every sound.

"What would you say if I said you've witnessed your own demise," Belenko laughed.

Decker was cursing and threatening Belenko. "What about you, you bastard? You're here, too!"

"I'm dead anyway," Belenko said, disdain in his voice. "It pleases me to take the both of you with me."

Auggie stormed forward, his own anger at Belenko taking precedence. He snatched Decker, pulling him off Belenko, and grabbed Chechnyan by his throat.

"You kill me here, right now," Belenko said. "And I won't tell you where we took your girlfriend."

Auggie's heart froze. "What are you talking about?" he snapped, focus shifting lightning fast from himself to Annie.

"You will never win against me," Mikhail Belenko sneered.

"Where IS SHE?!" Auggie nearly picked Belenko off the ground, and thrust him down again. He didn't see Belenko pull a silver lighter from his pants pocket and flick the lid up. He felt the man jump as he tossed the object, but he didn't see the lighter arc into the warehouse. He heard the clatter as it hit, and then a _whoosh!_ as it ignited the spilled oil. He heard Decker scream his name, and he let go of Belenko and ran hard, hearing Decker's shout ahead of him. He stumbled, kept running, felt Decker's hand grab his arm and pull him hard as he felt a wave of heat blast behind them, throwing them forward.

Stunned, Auggie shook his head, feeling the ground under him. He couldn't be sure what was happening, the explosion had dulled all his senses. He tried to right himself, and he called Decker's name.

He felt some scrambling beside him. "Auggie!" he heard through the roar of flames, and Decker's hand grabbed Auggie's shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Auggie asked James, not knowing the condition of either one of them right now.

"He's running," Decker screamed, letting go of Auggie and getting to his feet.

Auggie heard the sound further down of the car engine and Decker shouting as he ran toward it. Auggie moved, trying to get a safe distance away, not knowing where he was going. He finally stopped to reach into his bag, finding his phone. He dialed Annie's number, but it went to voicemail. He dialed her desk. No answer. He called Joan.

"Where's Annie?" he asked as soon as Joan answered.

"I haven't seen her all afternoon. Where are _you_, Auggie?"

"Shit," Auggie muttered. "Joan, find Annie."

"Tell me what's happened, Auggie. We'll track her down." Her voice was calming, reassuring. As always.

Auggie heard another vehicle coming into the yard, and he heard Decker yell his name, coming towards him. James grabbed Auggie's hand and placed it on his elbow, and the two moved toward the vehicle. "Get in!" Decker shouted, touching Auggie's hand to the door handle and then running for the driver's seat of his car.

Doors closed, they sped off through the open gate and down the drive. The old Chev Monza picked up speed as Decker tried to close the distance between it and Belenko's sleek, black Mercedez-Benz.

Auggie stayed on the phone with Joan, giving her a run-down on everything. Joan did not say one word about this being off-book. Auggie knew that would come later, and he would take whatever she handed out as long as Annie was safe. He heard Joan issuing orders, moving on it immediately. She sent a team to meet them en route, to trap Belenko should he elude their chase.

Decker saw the black car up ahead, finally, as Belenko swerved off into the beginnings of a small community of homes and businesses. He passed the whereabouts to Auggie, who passed them on to Joan. Decker swore and banged his hand on the steering wheel. He'd lost the car.

Joan was gone momentarily. Barber was on the other line now, connecting the license plate that Auggie gave them to speed cameras in the area. He was able to trace the car moving through the commercial part of town, and Decker headed in that direction.

"There!" Decker shouted. "He's going in that building!" He slammed the car to a stop, and jumped out. "Shit, Auggie, that's Annie's car."

Auggie felt sick to his stomach. He was out of Decker's car in a flash. "Where?"

Decker was gone, after Belenko. Auggie felt entirely helpless. He didn't know whether to stay with the car, or open his cane and try to find Annie. After a string of curse words, Auggie dug out his cane as he heard gunfire from behind the building.

"ANNIEEE!" he shouted.

The police had been located by Joan and were on their way. Auggie could hear their sirens. Within minutes they were on the scene, and Auggie was immediately taken into their custody until they established who he was. He heard the radios of the police, and learned that Decker had taken Belenko down, shooting him in the knee and then jumping him from the fire escape stairs. They had cuffed him and were waiting for a police-escorted ambulance to take him back to a DC hospital.

"_Where is she!?_" Auggie hissed. "Where is Annie?"

"Sir?" one of the police came over to Auggie. "We found someone. A female."

Auggie couldn't ask. "Take me," he said, his hand out. The man led him around the side of a building where he heard another radio crackling.

"She's alive," the other officer said as the one leading Auggie stopped and tugged his arm down. Auggie knelt beside the woman, and carefully, he reached out both hands, touching her shoulders. She lay on her side, her arms behind her back, tied. Auggie pulled out his penknife and cut through, releasing her hands. He reached up and touched her face, her hair, and then he crumpled, his hands running all over her. It was Annie, unconscious, tape over her mouth. He pulled her up into his arms, his fingers gingerly pulling the tape away, his other hand clutching the back of her head.

"We need to get her to an ambulance," Auggie said. "Annie? Come on, I have you now. We got him. Annie?" He needed to hear her voice, to know she was going to be okay, that she was still with him.

"Come, Sir, we'll help you," said one of the officers standing behind him. He didn't let go of Annie, but he nodded, hearing paramedics' footsteps moving toward them down the alley. He felt Annie move, and she grunted. He felt all the emotion in him well up and he called her name, his cheek against her forehead, holding her against him.

"Auggie?" she mumbled, her voice gravelly. "How? Why are you here?"

"I came for you," he said, choking back tears. "Just like I always do." He laughed through the tears. "You don't expect me to just sit at home and let you have all the fun, do you?" He brushed her hair off her face, stroking it along her head.

They loaded Annie into the second ambulance, and Auggie went with her. Decker followed them until they reached the hospital, and then he headed back to DC. Belenko was under heavy police guard and was flown back to DC by helicopter. Annie had to leave her car where it was for the time being and once she was out of the after-effects of the tranquilizers Belenko had pushed into her veins, they released her into Auggie's care, and the pair of them were taken back to Langley by chopper. Auggie had been seen to by a physician, too. He had some minor burns and wounds from the shrapnel of the explosion, which was being cleaned up by crews as they headed back home.

Auggie expected a formal dressing down by Joan and Calder, and got one he did, but not until after Joan had hugged he and Annie so tightly that he knew that no matter what, she wouldn't have it any way else but to have them on her team. He smiled to himself, holding Annie's hand, sure Joan would probably much prefer his next mission not to be unsanctioned or off the books. He couldn't promise her that, but he vowed to try.

Decker was given a week off without pay. He also was merited with an achievement award for capturing Belenko and his part in the mission.

Auggie took Annie home. The fear of Belenko's revenge was over, and Auggie wanted nothing more than to put it out of his life and concentrate on the future without constantly wondering if Belenko would take it all from him. He held Annie's hand in the car, feeling the warmth of her skin below his fingers. Belenko had been so wrong. They _would_ win against him, and they _had_ won, and were all going home alive. Mikhail Belenko would now pay for the lives of Mueller, Tony, and Charlie. And Auggie and Decker would pay their respects once more when they toasted to their friends' lives, and to being still alive to do so.


	23. Chapter 23

**Covert Affairs. I don't own it. Just the need to get it back. We have a thing. You might want to check it out. Twitter and Tumblr hashtags: RenewCovertAffairs and BringBackCovertAffairs. Go on Facebook. We've put the link to our petition on the CA fan page. We also have a postcard petition happening. Join us and fight back! SO, to sum up, I don't own Covert Affairs, USA Network does, and we ALL need to tell them we want it back.**

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Auggie?" Annie asked, coming down the stairs.

"Heyyy," Auggie said, moving from the living room, where he'd been sitting with his laptop and his headphones, towards her, his arms out.

Annie wrapped herself into him, and Auggie walked with her over to the sofa. They sat down, and Annie curled up into his side after he lifted up his elbow for her to slide in. "How're ya feeling, Walker?" he asked her.

"You're gonna have to change that term of endearment soon, _Mister Anderson_," Annie said.

"You're dodging my question, _soon-to-be-Missus Anderson_," he said, kissing her head.

"My head hurts. My arms are really sore. But I'm okay."

Auggie knew she was bruised, and her arms being bound behind her back had made her shoulders ache. He was careful with her as he held her.

"Your sister called," Auggie said. "I told her you'd had a stapler accident, but you were fine, and you'd give her a call in a bit."

"Uh oh," Annie said, looking at Auggie with his little grin on his face as he flicked a shrug.

"She's fine," he said to her after a second. "She knows you're with me now, and I won't let anything happen to you."

He had been so terrified that he _had_ let something happened to her. When Belenko had said he had her, Auggie had felt nauseous and dizzy. It troubled him that Belenko had led Annie off, not even knowing Auggie was down the river investigating his warehouse. It troubled him that it had been that easy for Belenko to grab her. That she hadn't been expecting him, she was only following a lead she'd gotten earlier about a hideout in Bowling Green. Auggie knew that Annie had not been taken for long, Belenko and one of his men had grabbed her and drugged her so she wouldn't be any trouble, and tied her up in Belenko's hideout. He'd gone to the warehouse with his henchmen to do their daily check on the site, and Auggie could only assume he was waiting for Auggie to leave work, wondering where Annie was, and worried enough to be ready to come to her aid. Belenko was using Annie as bait to get Auggie, and Decker was sworn to protect Auggie. He would have come for him. Belenko would have had all three of them then, and he probably would have taken them to the warehouse to watch the next part of his plan. But James Decker had changed that plan.

The sweep team had found the trap door in the back of the warehouse, under an empty shelving unit. They mapped out a tunnel, well lit, in which were a dozen freezer cases, well insulated, and marked as toxic. The area was secured, and a Hazmat team sent in. Belenko's pyramid was crumbling from the top down, and Calder Michaels organised a take-down of anyone who was in-the-know in the chain of command.

Auggie and Annie were given the obligatory time off, a few days and Auggie was to go in Monday morning, with Annie's return pending her health. She'd been given a total physical, as both Auggie and Joan were worried about her, and were still concerned with effects on her heart.

Auggie's ears were ringing for a day from the sound of the blast. He was bruised, too, and had cuts and burns on his back, but he didn't care. He had Annie back in his arms, and he took her home, to their home, and nothing else mattered.

"Well," Annie said. "I guess now he won't crash the wedding."

"Don't even joke about that, Annie," Auggie said. The fear of Mikhail Belenko had hung over Auggie's dreams of the future, and it had tarnished a lot of the excitement.

Annie looked at him. She reached up and put her hand on his cheek, turning him toward her. "You're not going to lose me," she whispered. "I'm marrying you, August Anderson. Nothing will stop it now."

Auggie smiled again and leaned over, kissing her. "Well, in that case, I'd better make you some breakfast." He patted her arm and stood up, leaving her smiling after him, as he made his way to the kitchen. "Look at that!" he called back over his shoulder. "Didn't hit the table at all!"

Annie laughed and shook her head, her love for Auggie so plain on her face.

"You're about to have the messiest, most visually _un_stunning omelet of all time," Auggie announced as he began getting out the ingredients and placing them on the island.

Annie watched him from her place on the sofa. He was getting very comfortable in the kitchen now, he'd mapped and committed to memory, and Annie had been very interested in the gadgets he'd introduced to her. She wanted to watch him, to breathe him all in, to know him and how his world worked for him. He knew, and he let her, because he wasn't afraid to show it anymore, at least, not to her.

"Betchya it'll taste the best," she called to him as he put the cutting board into his catch tray on the island.

"No doubt," Auggie boasted, winking at her.

"So we're not allowed to go into the office," Annie said after a moment of watching him across the space of the house.

"Not one step," Auggie replied. "James and I caught Joan's evil glare, I know it. _No more going off-book_. But I'd do it again in a second for you."

Annie got up and moved to the other side of the island from Auggie, pulling out the stool to sit on.

"What would I do without you?" she asked him.

Auggie shook his head, smiling. "You'd be lost," he assured her.

Her smile matched his. She grabbed a mushroom before he cut it up. "So now what do we do?"

"What, with our time off? Oh, I can think of a few things."

"I'm shaking my head and grinning in an exasperated way," Annie said, as she was doing so.

Auggie beamed a smile across the countertop to her.

"Well," he finally said, continuing with his task. "_You_ are going to rest this morning. I don't want you collapsing on me later."

"Auggie, I feel fine."

"I know you feel fine. I want you to feel _fantastic_."

"I do. I will." She watched him for moment. "How about you?" She'd looked at the marks on his back the night before as she put antiseptic on them and some of them looked painful.

"Me, No, I'm okay." Auggie was so used to bumps and bruises and cuts and burns now that he could almost ignore the smaller things that happened. He was sure his pain tolerance was probably much higher than it should be at this point in his life. "But you are going to take it easy. Maybe we can go for a walk later. Whatever. We have our lives, we have this house, we have the back yard, we have the world. I'm happy just being here."

"Well, you're cheerful this morning."

"You're still here with me. I'm the happiest guy in the world."

The weekend arrived cosy and quiet. Auggie had seen that Annie was indeed strong and back to her usual health, so he let up on her. He never wanted to smother her, the way he'd never want to be coddled and smothered himself.

They spent Saturday morning Skyping with the plane crash children, and then did the housework in tandem. The rain pelted off the gables of the house and along the verandah roof, and a cool breeze blew the sheer curtains across Auggie's arm as he wiped the dining room table. He could hear Annie's wind chimes she'd put out in the tree. The air blowing in smelled fresh and green.

After the tense days leading up to Mikkhail Belenko's capture, Auggie caught himself thinking he was imagining this peace, these surroundings, even Annie. It often amazed him to think that they'd made it here. And he often wondered if they should keep pushing their luck.

He knew he wouldn't give any of this up. Hearing Annie singing absent-mindedly as she worked on some project or email, as she was dressing and brushing her hair, he'd promised himself to work through any mistake, any problem, any hurt, to make sure they stayed strong together. Feeling her walk by him, her hand pressing against his arm or his back as she passed, just as one would smile at her lover, he vowed to protect her and the love she so willingly bestowed upon him. The smell of her skin in the morning gave him everything he needed to face another day. How much did he want to gamble with that?

And yet, after five days off, they both were champing at the bit for something to put their minds in gear and their hearts in motion. Annie begged Joan to let her come in, and Joan relented, already having a whole week of less-than-exciting jobs lined up for her.

Auggie was glad that Joan didn't send her too far straight away. He still felt like he needed to keep her close, not let her out of his reach. He'd been on edge about Belenko for too long, and habitual thought was hard to break.

Decker was another story.

He'd been running for so long, he was a spark on a wire. And yet, Auggie felt a big change come over him. It was like he'd settled something inside. He was still quiet, still acting like everything was a deal in the back room, but he'd stopped looking so hard over his shoulder. Auggie sensed something of an acceptance in where he was. Maybe Decker was developing a feeling of contentment, Auggie wondered to himself. James was talking about having a youth soccer team starting up over the winter to be all ready for spring practice. He was getting his car inspected for another year. He told Auggie he'd bought a new television. Auggie told him to let him know when beers and a game were on the agenda.

The other thing that had happened was a change in Decker's thoughts about Auggie. Auggie had a distinct impression that James had accepted, finally, that Auggie wasn't the same man as he remembered. He finally started to take Auggie's hand and put it on his elbow without falter, and giving Auggie information before he asked for it. He seemed to be less self-conscious about acknowledging Auggie's needs. It was as though he had finally realised that Auggie was incredibly capable when given the right tools and information, but that he needed things that he hadn't before.

He admired Auggie for his tenacity. He admired him for stepping above all expectations while staying humble. He admired him for his fighting skills, which James had seen in the gym but until that day at the warehouse, had not witnessed in action. He stopped feeling awkward about trying to reinvent Auggie, and just formed a new friendship with Auggie now, leaving some of that baggage and loss behind him.

It was a new relationship for them, but to Auggie, it was a relief to be able to finally be himself with Decker, and not have to live up to another man's story. For Decker, it meant he'd given himself a friendship that meant more than the past.

One Saturday afternoon, Annie had just finished sorting laundry and Auggie, having just scrubbed out Annie's bubble bath tub rings, came in to put the towels and clothes away. They had brought their trusted contractor back in to see about doing something about the closet in their bedroom, and Kenny had come up with a few promising plans. He was coming to work on it when they went away in October, and it would be ready as a surprise when they returned.

"Thanks, Hun," Annie said as Auggie took over.

"You've done enough this morning."

Annie began putting away her underwear and stockings. Chores were much bigger with a house to look after, but she actually enjoyed doing housework with Auggie. Together, they figured it out. Annie didn't let Auggie get off lightly. Auggie didn't want to shirk his responsibilities to her and the house. He liked that they worked together at home as well as they did on the job. Minor disagreements aside, of course, which every household had, the whole thing was going rather well, Auggie thought. They had a woman, Callie, come in on Thursdays to supplement their housekeeping. Auggie had employed her through the company he used a couple of years ago and she'd been with him ever since. Annie knew she could trust her home with Callie as Auggie already had.

Annie walked to the window. "Who's that?" she asked out loud.

"You'll have to be a bit more specific," Auggie replied.

"Oh, it's James," Annie answered herself, turning from the window. "In his funny little car."

"He likes his funny little car," Auggie said, as if he could understand just by saying it. He picked up another towel and folded it, and then scanned the bed for anything he may have missed.

Finding nothing, Auggie turned and headed out the bedroom door, and Annie followed him down the stairs to meet James at the front door.

"Hey, Man," he said, pulling the door open.

"Hey." He looked around at the house, with the hanging flower baskets Annie had bought and hung under the verandah. "It's looks nice here. Hey, Annie. Looks good."

They invited Decker in but Annie had a better idea.

"Hey, you guys should take the 'Vette for a spin. _Guys_. You know. _Guy stuff_."

Auggie thought on that for a minute. "It's not my car anymore. She's offering it up to you, Man. You wanna take it out?"

"You know I do," said Decker, and Auggie could hear a grin in his words.

"You," Auggie said, turning to Annie, "are gonna get me in trouble. Do you know what this man is capable of?"

Annie smiled at James. "I do," she said. "And I'm grateful."

Auggie headed to the alcove under the stairs for his cane and wallet on the credenza there. "You going anywhere?" he asked Annie, turning.

"Nope. I'm going to go tinker outside and figure out how to hang that hammock for when you come home." She handed Decker the keys to the Corvette.

"Sounds good," he said. He turned back and swept the credenza for his phone, and then he was ready.

They opened the doors to the little garage on the side of the driveway and Decker whistled.

"Yeah, okay, I can see what you were drawn to," he said to Auggie.

"Wait'll you _hear_ it," Auggie said, trailing his hand down the side of the car to the door handle. "Sounds even better."

Auggie had just finished buckling the seat belt when Decker turned the key. The familiar rumble reverberated around them as James pulled out into the driveway, and beeped at Annie, who was waving at them from the doorway. Auggie raised his hand above his head and waved. He knew she needed some alone time and she knew he needed some _guy time_, as she put it, and he was glad for both.

"Where do you wanna go?" James asked.

Auggie put his hands up. "Nope, you're in charge here, Decker, I'm just along for the ride on this one. You'll finally realise why I've been making fun of your car all year. Last year for the real sports car, here, Man." Auggie patted the frame of the door.

"Well, as much as I hate to say you're right, Dude, I may hafta say you're right on this one."

"How easy was that?" Auggie teased. I knew you'd come to your senses. And what do you mean this _one_? I'm never wrong, Decker."

"Well, they sure never scared that attitude out of you," Decker said, and Auggie smiled at him. He wasn't sure who Decker was referring to, the bombers, Belenko's men, Henry Wilcox, the CIA, or all of them together.

"No," said Auggie. "It's hard to mess with perfection."

"Aw, geez, you're so full of shit, Auggie." Decker was chuckling.

"I am that," Auggie agreed, grinning along with him.

"How does Annie put up with you?"

"I honestly don't know sometimes," Auggie said. "She's got patience, that's for certain." He turned his body to Decker. "Do you know she's learning Braille? Just enough to leave me notes. I mean, who _does_ that?"

"You did that."

"Yeah, I know, but it was a bit more necessary for me. She didn't have to."

"She seems like the right one, Auggie."

"Yup. She is." She was.

"Smart one, too."

"One of the smartest." He was proud of who she was.

James was quiet, and Auggie took a shot in the literal dark. "It'll happen for you, too."

"Yeah, I dunno, Auggie. I'm a little rough around the edges."

"Some women like that," Auggie said. "I knew a few women like that. There's someone for everyone."

"You believe that?" asked Decker.

"I didn't used to," Auggie said.

"But you do now."

"I kind of have to," Auggie replied. "Look at what came my way."

"You're lucky," Decker said, and he meant it.

"I know." Auggie reached out and patted the dash of the car. "Now put this puppy into fifth and let 'er show you what she's made of," said Auggie.

Decker gave it all he had, and after forty-five minutes of good driving, he pulled off for something to drink.

"We got beer on one side and coffee on the other," Decker said.

"We could have one of each," Auggie said.

"Now you're thinking," Decker said, laughing.

They spent the next hour sitting out on the deck of a pub, drinking a beer. Auggie admitted to being worried about the upcoming September wedding, though he was looking forward to finally being married to Annie, for it to be happening. He told Decker about their plans to have a small ceremony at their own house, and that the invitation would probably be in his hand in a week.

"Annie picked out the invitations. They are blank. No detail. Nada. Like the White Album. So I'm not missing anything there. She actually sat and punched Braille into all of them. Not that there are that many."

"What did she put?" asked Decker, taking a swig of beer.

"She put _love_."

"Isn't that what that heavy big piece of wall art I moved for you says?"

"Yup. She was apparently sitting looking at the book of invitation styles and she was getting overwhelmed on her own. She said that simplified it for her, and so she ordered plain linen cards."

"Yup. No question. Meant for you."

Auggie couldn't contain the grin that crossed his face.

"So, you think you can handle coming to a wedding?"

"For you, Brother, I'd walk coals to get there."

He reached over and clinked his bottle against the one in Auggie's hand. Auggie nodded and raised his bottle to Decker, and drank.

After their beer, they moved on to a coffee, and headed back home. Auggie really noticed at that point that they hadn't had the weight of Belenko hanging over their shoulders. They'd simply done what friends do, they'd hung out and hadn't talked about work.

On the way home, they did what Annie had instructed. Guy stuff. They talked about sports, and the car, and about getting back to their judo class. When they reached back to the long driveway, Auggie was so glad Annie had suggested this for them. Decker had gotten a few good revs out of the car, took a few tight turns for the thrill of it. Auggie held on, not feeling the same innate trust that he had with Annie.

"That looks like Eric's car," said Decker as they arrived at the house.

"Is it?" Auggie was surprised. It was like he all of a sudden had friends and a regular life. That was what Annie and a house gave him, he decided.

"Want 'er back in the garage?"

"Yeah, you'd better, thanks, Man. I don't want Annie to have to come do it later. And it's totally for the best I don't try it. I don't think my home _or_ my car insurance would cover that."

Decker patted him on the chest and backed the car into the little garage, and then they climbed out. Auggie didn't bother with his cane, he just reached out as he came to the front of the garage, and Decker's elbow appeared at his fingers.

Annie and Barber were sitting up on the verandah on the side of the house, Annie on the swinging bed and Decker in a rocking chair.

"Wow," said Decker, and Auggie looked and felt puzzled.

"Yeah, that's a little housewarming gift," said Eric.

"What are we talking about?" Auggie asked, out of his depth on this one.

Annie stood and came over to him, taking his hand in hers. He moved with her until she put his hand on the top of something heavy and hard.

"Look, Auggie," she said. "Eric wasn't kidding."

Auggie's fingers traced the large object, understanding almost immediately what they told him.

"It's your barbecue," he said. "Eric, you got us a barbecue." He turned to where he thought Barber was standing. "I'm touched, Barber."

"Yeah," said Eric, moving close. Auggie adjusted his direction accordingly. "I'm happy for you guys. I'm gonna give you a hug, Auggie, so..."

"Oh, okay," Auggie said as the big man wrapped his arms around Auggie.

"Annie," said Barber, moving over to her.

Auggie stood grinning as Eric hugged Annie, telling her how happy he was that they were together, in this cool house, like they were meant to be.

_Meant to be_. Auggie had heard it too many times, had thought it too many times, for it to be a coincidence. No-one had ever said it about him and Natasha. Or Even Helen.

"So," said Auggie. "Did you bring steaks and burgers?"

"Thought you'd never ask," said Eric, and everyone laughed.

"I guess it's a barbecue, then," said Annie. "All right, boys, you get the tank hooked up and make it happen, and I'll get all the other bits ready. We'll christen this place the way Eric would have us do it."

"Hey-oh! Par-tay!" said Eric. "Hey, Auggie, fist bump, right here."

"Oh, right, fist bump." Auggie stuck his fist out, letting Eric knock his own against it. He smiled anyway. Eric Barber was one of a kind, and Auggie was grateful for that. He reached out and found Barber's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. He was grateful for Eric.

Annie popped in and out as they all hung around the barbecue; Eric and James were both trying to follow instructions to get the hose attached to the barbecue.

"Maybe you should have gone with the charcoal one," Decker said as he twisted his grip on the tank.

Auggie didn't care what kind of barbecue it was or how long it took. Annie came over and looped her arms around his middle, and he turned and pulled her into his side. It was true: their lives outside the agency had become more than their lives inside. No-one was hunting them, no-one was trying to put a wedge between them, they had finally made it past that.

They would soon be husband and wife.

As long as Auggie didn't have to pick out flowers and table decorations, he was more than okay with the way this had all turned out.


	24. Chapter 24

**As always, I have no ownership of Annie or Auggie or Covert Affairs. I do partly own a website called renewcovertaffairsdotcom. Because I know there's more story, that the intention was not to start a story and then throw it away. You don't let people read the stories you throw away, and if you have the imagination and the ability to let others read the ones you persue, then you'd better care about your readers enough to keep telling them your tale. And now I tuck my soapbox back under my chair and give you this. AS is the usual request, I'd love to hear from you. My reviews only tell me three people liked my last chapter. So chime in, give me a heads up on what you like or don't like.**

Chapter Twenty-Four

"I'm really nervous, Auggie," Annie said, brushing her hair for the fifth time.

"Look, Annie, you need to do this. And I'll go with you if you want me to."

"No, I think this one I have to do on my own. But thanks." She stopped, walking over to where he sat on the end of the bed, listening to her get ready.

Annie was going to meet her mother for lunch. It had been a process to get this far.

Danielle had kept it a secret for a long time. But Annie had put off coming to the decision to talk to her mother, to let her know her youngest daughter had not died in a car accident in Germany. She'd let it slide through the long, beautiful weeks she spent with Auggie the previous winter. She'd let it slide after Auggie had proposed, and they started house hunting.

Once the house was in their hands, she put it off by busying herself with the move. But Danielle had other plans. She had pushed Annie to tell her, she had threatened to tell if Annie didn't.

"I think she's been disappointed and lied to enough in her lifetime," Annie had replied.

"This is worse, Annie. She thinks her daughter is dead. No matter how much shock it will be..."

"What am I supposed to tell her?" Annie asked. "I think the shock would kill her. And then how do I explain what I've been doing, where I've been? She's better off not knowing."

"Annie. You know she'll find out. Katia and Chloe can't keep it a secret; she's coming down in three weeks. What if we conference it? I can be the voice of reason."

"You always were," said Annie, bitterly.

"If you don't tell her, I will," replied Danielle. Annie knew that was her trump card. Danielle had kept all Annie's secrets, all of them except three. Those three, two of which were in their school years, she had warned in advanced that she would tell. They had all been things that, in the end, had needed to be told, and Annie had been grateful that her sister broke her trust, after a lengthy time of being angry. This time, no matter who told their mother, it wasn't going to be better.

In the end, Annie knew that she needed Danielle. Her mother wouldn't believe it was her, and Annie needed her own sister to vouch for her life. She agonised about whether she should come clean about her career, about why she had had to hide. She asked Auggie what he thought, and when he told her only she could know if it was right to tell her mother about the CIA, she fell back into the notion that maybe she could just sweep it under the rug. She debated telling her mother that she had been put in a witness protection plan after witnessing a murder, that she'd been living in Vancouver in safety. But she was tired of trying to make up stories to cover stories, and as she didn't have a relationship with her mother to destroy in any case, she figured she would just tell the truth, or at least, a much redacted truth.

So then came the debate on how to do it. Showing up at her mother's house was not something she felt she could do. Calling her out of the blue was out of the question. In the end, she thought about Auggie. He'd helped her call Danielle, and as hard as that had been, it had worked.

"I'll be right here, hand around yours," Auggie had told her. "Whatever you do."

And so, Danielle organised to time to call her mother to talk about her trip to visit them in California. She connected the call to Annie's number as well. Annie had sat, her hand tight in Auggie's, waiting for the phone to ring, and she jumped when it did. He squeezed her hand as she'd put the speaker on.

"Okay, Annie. I'm dialing. It's going to be okay," her sister had told her. "I'm right here."

"So am I," Auggie whispered.

"Hello?" A voice Annie had not heard in years, since she had first come back to DC to work at Langley.

"Hi, Mum," Danielle said.

"Oh, Danielle, darling! I'm just making a list of things to bring. Tell me, do the girls like to shop now?"

"Yes, they sure do, Mum, they would spend me out of house and home, if I let them. Chloe is always heading to the mall with her friends."

"Well, wonderful, I have some gift cards that seem to just sit here and—"

"Mum?" Danielle had interrupted. "Can... Can you sit down?"

"What is it, Dear?"

"Just... sit down for a minute. I want to tell you something."

"You're worrying me, Dani."

"I need to tell you something about Annie."

"Annie? What do you mean?"

"There's really no easy way to tell you."

"Dani? Please just say what you are going to say."

"Mum, Annie's alive."

Silence.

"She's not dead, Mum. She's here. She's on the line with me right now."

"Dani—"

"It's true, Mum," said Annie. "I'm here."

The pause continued and then, "What are you playing at, Danielle? This is a horrible prank to play on your mother!"

"Mum?" said Annie. "She's not lying. I'm alive, and I'm in DC with Auggie."

"Auggie?" Mrs. Walker had met Auggie at Annie's funeral. He'd given her his condolences for her loss, when he'd been introduced by Danielle. She had known Auggie had worked with her daughter, and knew they had been a couple for a while, but she'd never met him until that day. "What are you saying? Why did you put us through this? Danielle? When did you know this? How long?"

Danielle had tried to calm her mother's accusing tones. Annie sat back, feeling like she had failed her family. Danielle couldn't tell her mother, only Annie could tell her mother. So, Danielle gave their mother the reasoning to meet with Annie, to at least hear her out. Annie had decided she'd best let some of the shock wear off and gave her mother a few days. Danielle persuaded her mother to meet Annie, and Annie let her mother name the place and time.

Her mother had agreed to dinner in the city shortly before she was to leave for California. If it all went badly, she could run off to her first-born and see she'd at least raised one properly adjusted daughter.

"It's going to be okay," Auggie said again, hearing her picking up and then putting down what Auggie assumed were pieces of jewellery. Repeatedly. "You look fine," he said.

She turned back again. "You're just saying that," she said. He smiled sheepishly and shrugged one shoulder.

"Look. No matter what happens, Walker, you come back home when it's over, and I'll be here, and everything will be okay." He stood up, reaching up to clutch her shoulder. He wanted to show her how much he loved her and supported her with every measure he could. "I love you, Annie Walker."

He heard her take a breath, steeling her nerve. "That's all I need," she said.

"You probably shouldn't take the Corvette," Auggie said, scrunching his eye.

"Oh, God, no," Annie said. "That's all I need to do, pull in in that cherry ride, hey, Ma, not dead, just a spy!"

Auggie laughed and then became serious again. "It'll be okay. And if it gets bad, treat it like an op. Go in, complete the mission, and get out. Don't let her take you down, okay?"

"Yes, Captain," she said. "Okay. This is it. I guess I'm off."

Auggie walked with her down the stairs and she stopped at the door, turning to him.

"I'll be here," he assured her. "You got me."

She nodded. "If I don't come back—"

"I'll send in an extraction team," Auggie assured her. She leaned in and gave him a peck, squeezed his shoulder, and was out the door, leaving Auggie to wonder with each minute after what could be happening as she met with her mother.

Annie's mother was no monster. He'd known that as long as he'd known Annie, and then Danielle. She had to be some kind of strong, moral woman to raise such strong, capable daughters. He'd known in the brief meeting he'd had with her at the false funeral, that she grieved for her daughter, that her pain had been real. Annie had felt she was the unruly daughter, the black sheep, but Auggie knew that her mother saw things in Annie that made her special to her, just as Danielle was.

Auggie had a deep belief that Annie and her mother would come to some sort of peace. Any mother given a second chance with her daughter would surely not let that slip by. And yet, Auggie found himself checking his watch, pacing away moments, and checking the texts on his phone more times than he would care to reflect on.

He couldn't keep his focus on the television or his computer, so he instead headed to the kitchen to make himself something to eat.

Annie had made so many allowances for him in their home, in their kitchen, he always tried to be grateful for it. Sometimes it was hard, because two people do not always get it right. He'd search for something and it would not be where he thought it was. The next question was, were they out of it, or was it somewhere else? Did a utensil or appliance just get left on the countertop, or was it put back into its proper place? It was frustrating, to say the least, having to look for something that wasn't lost. He tried hard not to take it out on Annie. His resentment was not intended for her. Or at least, he tried not to let it be. She hadn't done this whole thing before. It wasn't her habit. Nor should it be, he thought, but yet, it had to be, for the household to work. He'd caught himself one night only last week becoming annoyed with Annie for putting the ketchup in the cupboard instead of the fridge door. He was angry at her and then he was angry at himself. People did that. Put things in different places. He had to work around it. The world was not catered just to him, he had to remind himself of that sometimes. Give and take. He'd apologised. He told her it would happen again, that she would move something or misplace it, and that he would probably get angry. But that it was never to be the end of the world, they would work it out. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't his fault. A disability had to be accommodated together, and Auggie knew that she was working with him and not against him.

Auggie knew they were lucky. As much as they were up against, they had so many things that no-one else had. They had a bond that spoke louder than the small things, and even louder than the big things. If he couldn't find the pepper, big deal, in the larger scheme. She had eyes. She always could see it almost before he had to ask. And if anyone could diffuse that frustration that built in him so strong, so fast, it was Annie. He always would remember that day they spent in Barcelona when he was jumped and he lost the case. He'd gone into what could only be described as _blind panic_, not knowing if he would be attacked again, if Annie was being hurt or taken. That, along with his frustration at loosing the case and trying to free his cane from its tangle around the iron rail had overflowed his level of coping.

And then Annie. Cool, gentle Annie, her hands on his face, her forehead on his, as if peering into his eyes, letting him see her calm. It was like a cool rain immediately on his inner anguish, giving him an anchor to hold until the world righted itself. He had had a few moments like that in rehab, like the time he'd walked out into traffic, and never had he had them diffused the way Annie had been able to do it.

So a misplaced bottle of ketchup, or a pair of shoes that only tripped him and didn't injure him, he could let those things go. He could see the bigger picture and he knew that it was the most beautiful thing to behold.

"_Text message from: Annie Walker_."

Auggie moved to the island and picked up the phone, swiping across it with two fingers and tapping the app twice. Civilian phones didn't need codenames now that they were almost married. He still kept her other phone number listed under _Helvetica_.

"_Messages: Text message: Annie Walker. Seven-twenty-two pm. We are still here_."

Well, thought Auggie. They were both still there. Alive. Capable of texting. That seemed positive.

He finished the leftover lasagne Annie had sealed and labelled in a container on the second shelf from the night before. It tasted better the second night, oddly enough, and Auggie contentedly put his dishes into the dishwasher and cleaned up. He wiped the inside of the microwave, knowing the tomato sauce spattered as it heated. He knew it wouldn't be perfect, it couldn't be perfect, but he tried to get as close as he could.

He gathered together the garbage, thinking he may as well do his manly duty, as Annie had suggested to him. He didn't mind the walk down to the end of the gravel driveway and back. They'd already had a paving salesman stop in to ask them if they wanted to get the driveway paved. Apparently it was a rarity to have such an archaic thing as a gravel driveway, and Auggie decided against the upgrade, after consulting with Annie. He liked it the way it was.

He headed down through the trees lining both side of the road. He knew that there was a house through the wooded enclosure on the right side as he was walking down, but he didn't know if it could be seen through the trees.

At the end of the driveway, he placed the bags in the bin on the right hand side. They had been warned about crows and raccoons, so they had put a large wooden box at the end of the road because they couldn't be home to put garbage out directly before a pickup.

A bird flitted along from tree to tree as he walked back towards the house. He smiled. It kind of reminded him of being young, climbing trees, pretending to be invisible to everyone and everything but the birds. He'd liked being in the woods. He'd escaped from his brothers many times in the solitude of the woods in Glencoe. He'd enjoyed the camping part of Eagle Scouts, where they learned to track animals and what berries a person could eat and what they could not. He had excelled in all those skills. Maybe he could figure out what kind of bird that was. If it would sing, he might know.

He reached the house and veered to his left, walking around the small garage. He knew there was some wood there, stacked against the side of the building, with a tarp over it, but he wasn't sure how much, or how it was stacked. He wanted to be able to carry it into the house when it came time for the cooler evenings to creep in. He figured he could probably relocate a good portion of it to somewhere on the verandah on the side of the house so they didn't have to go so far to keep the fire going in that robust little stove. He found the tarp and he leaned his cane against the garage, and then worked on untying the bottom corner.

As he was doing this, he heard thumping footsteps. Not heavy. Just quick. He stopped, cocking his ear. The sound got louder and then it stopped.

"Oh, hey," said a kid's voice. A boy, Auggie presumed.

"Hey."

"You the new owner?"

"Yup. I am." He stuck out his hand and leaned out a little, to invite the kid closer. "Auggie Anderson."

"Auggie?" the kid asked, shaking Auggie's hand. "That's a weird name."

The hand was small. The kid may have been about nine or so.

"I agree," Auggie replied. "What's yours?"

"Toby."

"Toby. Less weird. And where do you come from, Toby?"

"Just over there."

"Ah."

"I saw your car."

"The blue one?" Auggie asked him.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool. Is that a Corvette?"

"Yes. You got it right, that's what it is."

"My Dad likes Corvettes. He saw yours. He said you were either some old guy having a midlife crisis or you were a kid trying to prove himself."

Auggie grinned shaking his head. "And? Which do you think?"

"Well," said the kid. "You don't look _that_ old. I mean, maybe the same age as my Dad. So I don't think you are either."

"Good observations," Auggie said.

"Yeah so I threw my Frisbee in the footpath there, and now it's gone. You didn't see it, did you?"

"I can guarantee you that I did not see it," Auggie replied. "Why would you throw your Frisbee in a footpath? It needs space to fly."

"Yeah, but I'm an only child and I have no-one to catch it," said Toby.

Auggie nodded. "I can see your situation," he said.

"My Frisbee is green. If you see it, can you put it on that rock? I'll keep checking. Maybe if you find it, maybe we could play. Then I'd have somebody to catch it."

"I'm pretty sure I probably can't."

"Sure, it's easy. I can throw real good."

"I'm sure you throw very well, Toby, but I don't see really well. Or, at all, actually. So catching it would be a real show-stopping coincidence."

"What do you mean? Like, you're blind?"

"Bingo! That's it."

"Really?" Auggie could tell the boy had come to stand very close to him, inspecting him for signs of blindness.

"Really," said Auggie.

"So... are you lost? How do you find your way around?" Toby's voice was moving, Auggie could tell he was looking around at the size of the property and driveway.

Auggie laughed. "No, I'm not lost. I know exactly where I am." He turned around and felt along the side of the garage, locating his cane. "And I find my way around with this."

"Oh. Cool."

"Yeah?"

"I guess."

Auggie nodded. "Okay."

"So. You married?" asked Toby, and Auggie broke out in laughter again. Kids. He'd always loved a good old straightforward talk with a kid.

"Getting there. September wedding."

"Kids?"

"Nope. Sorry. No kids for you to hang with."

"Darn," said Toby, sounding disappointed. "Do you have any pets? Like a dog or something?"

"Nope."

"Darn. I was gonna ask you if I could walk it."

Auggie knew he was gradually becoming a let-down to the kid's expectations. He waited for the kid to make a connection between him having a Corvette and being blind, but the kid never went that far.

"Sorry, Kid," Auggie said.

"Oh, well. I guess I'm doomed."

Auggie chuckled. "I don't think you're doomed, Toby. You'll just have to go further down the street."

"Yeah, there's a kid, Oliver, who lives a few houses up, on the other side of the rode, but he's not allowed to play on weeknights."

"That's too bad. I feel for ya, Kid."

"Oh, well. I'll keep hoping."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you," Auggie said, nodding very seriously at the boy.

"Well. Thanks. See ya!"

And before Auggie knew it, the footsteps carried the kid back from where he came. He shook his head, grinning, and then went back to his task of checking out the wood pile.

About an hour later, Auggie was sitting down with a beer to check his email when there was another text from Annie saying she was coming home. It didn't say what her mood was, or if she had been successful or dutifully dumped by her mother. So Auggie continued to worry, though he tried to tell himself it was foolish.

He heard the car approaching the house and he stood and went to the door. He leaned against the screen door, listening to her turn off the car and climb out. The car horn bleated as she hit the lock button on the key fob. She closed the door, and her heels clipped as she made her way to the stairs. He stepped out, holding out his arms, and she moved directly into them, pressing against his chest. He held her tightly for a moment, and then he wrapped an arm around her and found the door handle, and then walked inside with her tucked against him. They sat down together, and Auggie took up her hands. Her expression would be there for him, as well as in her voice.

"She listened."

"Good."

"She's not happy."

Auggie tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. "We knew she might not be."

"No, she's not."

Auggie heard the emotion in Annie's voice. He squeezed her hands. "But it's done, Annie. She knows now. It's in her court now. You don't have to have it hanging over you any more."

"I know." She wiped at her eye with the back of her hand, not letting go of Auggie's for a second.

"Is she still invited to the wedding?" Auggie asked, attempting a tiny bit of levity. "Wait, does she _know_ about the wedding?"

Annie sighed. "I told her. I told her everything I could tell her. I told her I'd told Danielle not to say anything. I told her we went away, to get our lives together in order. I... I told her everything I could legitimately tell her."

"And she heard you."

"Yes. I made sure she heard me."

"And?" Auggie was dying to know the full outcome.

"And. She told me she would take everything into consideration. That she feels betrayed all over again. Like I'm my father."

"You're not him."

"In her eyes, I'm just like him."

"Give her time." Auggie let go of one of her hands and pressed it against her cheekbone. "Annie, this is better. It's going to get better. You have Danielle and the girls on your side. She's going down there, you know she's going to rant it out to your sister. And Danielle is going to be on both your sides, because she loves you both. Your mother is simply going to have to accept this, and get back to being your mother, or she'll refuse to see you, in which case, you aren't any worse off than before. Give her a little time, Annie. Let the shock wear off. Her daughter was dead. Now she's not, it turns out she's a spy, and she's getting married to her handler. That's a lot for someone to take in at once."

"I know."

"Her blind handler at that. We couldn't go any bigger, Annie, for shock value. Let your sister work her family magic. I have a very strong feeling your mother won't turn down her invitation. Even if just to come try and run some of the preparations, just because she needs to control _something_ in your life." And if she does, we'll welcome her."

"We will?"

"We will. Of course. Together, Annie. We're getting married, right?"

"Yes."

"So no matter what, you have me. No matter what. And I stand by you, and your mother will just have to deal with it. Either she wants to see you happy at last, or she wants to be selfish and spiteful. And I don't get that feeling from your mother, I don't. She loves you, Annie."

Annie took up his hand still holding hers and traced around his fingers absent-mindedly as she listened to him speak softly to her.

"And so do I," he said, pulling her close, resting his chin on her head as she tucked in under it. He held her tight, listening and feeling her heart beating. Then he smiled, and kissed her hair. "And I have a request for you. If you happen to see a Frisbee lying around, it belongs to the kid next door, who inevitably will want to play a game with me because we don't have a dog."

There was a pause. And then Annie leaned back, looking at him, her one word coming out in a very puzzled tone.

"_What_?"


	25. Chapter 25

**I only possess the desire for Covert Affairs back on my screen, not the concept, the show, or the characters. I pledge my allegiance to this show, to get it back in some form, and to once again fangirl like the fangirl I can be. renewcovertaffairsdotcom**

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Annie?"

"I'm down here on the hammock," Annie called to him, glancing up at her fiancé on the verandah above her.

He smiled, and found the railing. He knew how many steps it took to reach her. When he got close, he reached out his hand, and in a moment, her hand enclosed it and brought him to her.

"Hey," he said, a lazy grin on his face.

"Hey," she said, pulling him down to her. He kissed her, keeping his lips against hers for an extra long time.

"This hammock is built for two," Annie told him.

"Oh, it is, is it?"

"Why don't you come test it out with me?" She moved over, tugging on his hand. He sat down and slid across it until he felt it counterbalance, and then he lifted up his feet and lay beside Annie, cradling her in his arms.

"This is nice," Auggie said.

"It is." Annie closed her eyes. "I wish we could do this forever."

"We can."

"No. I have to go to Geneva tomorrow. And I have to go to Paris in the middle of the week."

"Well, we have today. Besides, when do you find yourself being _forced_ to go to Paris, Walker?"

"No, of course, you're right. I love Paris."

"You don't sound so sure now."

"No, of course I love Paris."

"Let me guess... you wish you had a bigger shopping budget."

"Of course I do," she laughed.

They lay there for a while in silence, listening to the birds around them.

"Are you reading?" Auggie asked.

"I kinda was. Well, I was kinda daydreaming."

"What could a woman like you need to daydream about? Unless it's weddings or something."

"I thought I could be practical," she admitted. "But it's not going so well."

"Why? What could possibly be impractical about a wedding?"

Annie made a little sound. Auggie turned to her, still holding her in his arms. "Annie. Don't get too far out of your realm. But if you want a little more storybook in your wedding, by all means, my dear sweet woman. You haven't even gone to get a dress, have you?"

"No. I just... I wanted Danielle here. I don't know. I didn't think I wanted to go too fancy. But now that it's getting closer, I keep thinking of these things I wanted when I was a girl."

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Like, tradition, somehow. We were such an untraditional family... I think I wanted something that everyone else wanted. Just a little."

"You can have whatever you want. Within reason. Is that the phone?"

"Yes. Don't answer it, we don't answer today."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Auggie said. "I'm not moving again today."

"What about lunch?"

Auggie scrunched an eye in a display of thought, a grin on his face. "I'd be willing to sit up. Maybe. Or you could feed me grapes like the Romans."

"Oh, dream on, Buster."

"Well, can't blame a guy for trying."

The phone rang again.

"Desperate," Annie pondered.

"Don't care," sang Auggie.

"Neither do I," Annie said. "Do you think your whole family will come for the wedding? I haven't received all the RSVPs back yet."

"I think they've been waiting for any opportunity to scope me out," Auggie admitted. "I think I've caused a huge bottleneck of need-to-know. My whole plan backfired, and they are even more desperate to figure me out."

"Well," Annie said. "Maybe you should just let them."

Anything Auggie had been going to say never made it from his brain to his mouth.

"I mean it, Auggie. I mean, _national security_ and all that, but the real details of your life, our lives, I'm sure you're tired of hiding. As much as I dreaded coming clean to my mother, to Danielle, even, it sure takes a huge weight and bother off me. I don't have to make up stuff. Or hide from them. My mother has everything to make her mind up, but I don't have to worry about my part in it anymore. That's what I'm realising I feel. Secrets and lies wear a person out."

"I know that as well as you," Auggie said.

"Well. I'm not telling you what you don't already know, then."

There was a sense of peace as they both stopped and listened to a bird in the tree along the edge of the wood. Their two worlds couldn't be further apart, and they both sat between them, deciding which one meant more.

"Okay, now I _am_ hungry," Annie said. "I was fine until you talked about food."

"I didn't talk about food. You mentioned lunch."

"Yeah, well. I only had coffee this morning, and half of a bagel."

"I know. I found the other half," replied Auggie. "And I ate it with cream cheese and a side of bacon."

"You didn't," Annie said.

Auggie just smiled. "It was good."

"Oh, just to let you know, I do not see a Frisbee anywhere. I looked around this morning. I think that kid was playing you, Auggie. Wanted to come check you out. Probably saw your hot rod car."

"_Your_ hot rod car," Auggie corrected her. "And he was looking for a playmate."

"Aw, it's too bad we have to disappoint him," Annie said.

"Isn't it? No kids, no dogs. We don't even have a fish. We are lousy new neighbours," Auggie said playfully.

"How old is he, could you tell?"

"No, eight, nine? I don't know for sure. Name's Toby."

"Well, that's weird. Did you tell him?"

"No. I figured if I told him I had a brother named Toby, I'd just be opening a can of worms. This kid had plenty to say, and then when he was done, he was done."

"Well, I think it's a sign," Annie said. "He's got the name of your closest brother. You'll be playing Frisbee with him before the summer is out," Annie said.

Auggie laughed, and squeezed Annie's hand. "I did enjoy a good game of Frisbee," he said.

Annie squeezed his hand back.

After a few moments of just lying there, Annie turned to look at Auggie. "Nope, I'm still hungry," she admitted to him.

"Well, I guess we could go in and make something."

"You know what? I could kill for one of those Tazel sandwiches." Annie sat up and Auggie rearranged himself beside her, his feet on the grass. "Why don't I run out and get us a couple and pick up some beer in case we have company tonight. Now that we have this normal couple lifestyle."

"You want me to come?" Auggie asked.

"No, you stay here. Hold down the fort. I won't be long." Annie stood and Auggie reached up, touching her back as he stood up, too. He kept contact with her as they headed back to the steps, feeling the soft texture of the cotton dress she wore. She stopped just before the steps and he put his other hand out, searching the air for the railing. As he located it, Annie began up the stairs. It had become a comfortable way to manoeuvre their home and property, his hand just barely grazing the small of her back, feeling her motion.

"Be right back," she said, slipping on some sandals, throwing a scarf around her neck, and grabbing her purse and her sunglasses. She put her hand on Auggie's shoulder and leaned in, kissing him.

He heard the sound of the car starting. The Corvette. He smiled, imagining how she would look as she stepped out of it, dropping men's, and women's, he mentally added, jaws everywhere. And she was all his.

He turned back to the living room where he knew there was a Braille novel on the table. He hadn't read a lot of novels since he'd lost his sight. It felt impractical and he was always working on something for Joan or Annie, not letting himself ever take pleasure in things that he'd enjoyed. But since this house had happened, Auggie had found himself looking for books in Braille. Annie was commonly found curled up around a book when she was on her down time, and it made Auggie miss it. He located the book and checked that the place was still marked. He was just debating on getting a drink of something when the doorbell rang.

Puzzled, he turned back to the door and opened it a crack. "Hello?" he asked, keeping his eyes cast down, so the guest would realise he needed a hint.

"August, hello," said the voice.

Auggie's mind raced through the bank of voices. He knew he recognised this one. It was someone to do with... Parker? No. It was Danielle. And Annie. The realisation hit him.

"Mrs. Walker," Auggie said.

"You knew me," she said, suspiciously.

"It was a close one," Auggie replied, unsure as to what he was supposed to say. "Uh, won't you come in? Annie just stepped out for a minute, but I'm sure if she had known you were coming—"

"I called four times." She stepped past him.

He turned, letting the door close. "Oh," he said.

"I'm sorry, August—"

"Auggie. You can call me Auggie."

"I'm sorry for barging in. I... I wanted to talk to Annie. I was too upset to ask the right questions. I don't want to go to Danielle's before I finish this."

"When you say _finish_," started Auggie.

"I mean finish this discussion. I'm assuming you were aware that I talked to her. That she told me about this little secret you both have been living. You told me she was _dead_, August."

"I know," Auggie said, with true regret. He knew he couldn't have done anything differently, but it didn't make it any easier when he had stood in front of Annie's own mother and lied to her face. "I couldn't say anything. Not without risking her life. Again. It was the hardest thing I had to do, that day I called Danielle."

"And Danielle has obviously forgiven you."

"It took her a while. And I don't blame her one bit. Just as I don't blame you for being angry. With her, with me. It's a position we all are put in when we make the choice to work for the Agency. Some people never tell their loved ones. Annie wrestled with telling Danielle for ages years ago. I remember having lots of long talks about it. She struggled."

"And so Danielle knew all this time," Mrs. Walker said.

"Annie needed someone who wouldn't walk away from her. Danielle almost did. It broke Annie. What would you have done if she'd come to you?"

"Lies. All of you with your lies. I guess the apples didn't fall far from the trees with those girls."

"Look, I'm not sure what happened with you and Annie's father. Annie hasn't told me everything about those times except about good times when they were young. I think she wants to just remember the good stuff. She and Danielle have done their best. They are so close, it's really good, Mrs. Walker. Annie needs that. Danielle, too." He walked over to the living room and gestured Annie's mother inside. "Please, come in and sit. Annie will be back shortly. She went to get some lunch and a few things."

He stood, waiting to hear her walk across the floor and sit. When she did, he sat down, too."

"So was that a lie, too?"

"Was what a lie?"

"Can you see, August? Or is it part of your cover?"

Auggie shook his head. He hadn't ever been accused of that before. "Excuse me?"

"You recognised me at the door. You watched me come over and waited for me to sit. What kind of crazy scheme does that place set you up with? Annie's dead, you're blind."

"First of all, I really am blind, Mrs. Walker. That's no lie, and definitely no scam. Why would anyone carry on that kind of charade if they didn't have to? I was blinded in Iraq, in a real war, with real men that really died. Not a lie. It's a disservice to all of them to think I'm lying about my representation." Auggie tried to keep his voice low. He took a breath. "Secondly, Annie wasn't made to do what she did. It was her idea. Just to set the record straight. And she came to you because, in the end, she wanted her mother to be here for her when she got married."

There was a silence, and Auggie wasn't sure what the woman was thinking. He hated that he'd had that outburst. He hadn't intended to speak of any of it until Annie came back, but her words had forced him to play a hand.

"This house," Annie's mother said.

Auggie waited for her to continue.

"You really love her."

"More than anyone I've ever met in my life."

"I'm sorry I said you lied. I just don't know what's real and what's not anymore. You say Danielle knew... and you knew..."

"Danielle didn't know, not at the funeral. Annie told her last year, before we went away."

"My own children," she said. "Where did I go wrong?"

"You didn't go wrong anywhere that I can tell, Mrs. Walker. They are wonderful women. You did a great job. They love each other, they look out for each other. They're stronger now than they were before. They are smart, capable, beautiful, productive, well-scrupled people. They worried about how you would react. You raised two great, strong women. You need to trust them. You need to trust Annie. Believe in her. She's been afraid for a long time that you don't. She thinks she disappointed you a long time ago, and that you've never appreciated who she is. And, I can vouch for her, Mrs. Walker. She's an amazing person. And I don't want to live without her. And I hope you don't, either."

"She loves you," Mrs. Walker said. "I could see it when she talked about you."

Auggie smiled a little. "I love her, too. I've loved her for years. It took me a while to admit it at the right time," he said.

"And you can take care of her? Provide for her?"

"I can. I do. Though she's pretty capable of taking care of and providing for herself. She doesn't need me to do it for her. But she's willing to let me try."

"And what about this house? How do you take care of this place? Surely Annie doesn't have to do all the cleaning and lawn care and—"

"No, Mrs. Walker. She does not." Auggie held his breath for a minute. He didn't want to go there. First she thought he was lying about his blindness and now she thought he couldn't contribute to the household or look after her daughter. He counted to ten, hoping his face reflected nothing to her about his inner patience being frayed. Instead, he stood.

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked. "Coffee? Tea? I think we have juice."

"No, I'm fine, August. I can wait until Annie comes back."

Auggie shook his head instead of opening his mouth, and then he headed to the kitchen. _He_ needed something to drink, that was for sure, and he hoped Annie came home with lots of beer very soon. The woman in the living room would drink some tea if it killed her to do so, he'd see to it. And if the tea didn't kill her, thought Auggie, his kindness would. He took a deep breath and smiled back toward the other side of the house.

"You should take a look outside, Mrs. Walker. Nice little yard out there. Good peaceful place for Annie to come home to. She likes the flowers. They made her feel content when she looked after them. I don't know what's out there in bloom now, I can't keep track unless they're super fragrant, you know." Auggie talked as he set the kettle on the stove. He figured she would still be in the living room, scoping the room out, or maybe, if she were being polite, she'd go to the patio doors and have a look outside.

"Can I help you with anything?" Her voice was directly across the island from him and he jumped in surprised.

"Oh. I'm sorry, August. I shouldn't have snuck up on you."

Auggie set down the kettle, and snapped on the burner dial. "No. You gave me a start there, but it's okay. And no, I'm fine. Please, go have a look outside. I think you'll like it. Do you take milk or cream or sugar?"

"You don't have to go to this trouble," she protested.

"Ma'am," said Auggie, his patience wearing thin, "please. Cream or sugar?" Auggie was calm on the exterior.

"I'm sorry. Of course, um, just some cream, thank you."

Auggie set everything out to wait for the water to boil, and then he followed the edge of the island around to where Annie's mother stood, tentatively watching him to see how he worked. He held out his hand.

"Please," he said. "Let me show you. The kettle whistles. Nice and loud." He smiled at her as warmly as he could muster. "Come," he repeated, opening his hand up even more to her. Thankfully, she was her daughter's mother, and she took it. And he looped his arm around hers, like he did with Annie, and he physically walked her to the patio doors, sliding his hand along until he opened the door handle and led her through.

He remained silent, letting her look around, letting her see what he and Annie had for themselves. She stepped away from his side and moved to the edge of the verandah to the railing.

"A hammock," he heard her say. "She got her hammock."

He followed her sound movement around the verandah, staying close to the door in case the kettle began to whistle. He wished he could take her first impressions in, but other than that one comment, she gave nothing away. He waited.

Finally, she spoke. "You and she chose this place together?"

"We did. We looked at a lot of houses, and by looked, I mean Annie looked and I stood and listened. This one had stories."

She was appraising him right there, in his doorway. He felt her scrutiny on his skin. He knew it was because she loved Annie, and it was why he needed to keep trying with this woman. She wanted more for her daughter than what she had ended up with. She wanted to know her daughter was safe, was loved, was taken care of, was appreciated, and would not be left alone.

The kettle started to whistle, and Auggie moved back inside to the kitchen. He made Annie's mother her cup of tea, measuring in a little cream to start, and then poured one for himself. He was prepared to pick them both up and carefully make the walk back to the verandah, but Auggie felt her, like a shadow, moving toward the island.

He faced her and held out the mug, hoping she wasn't expecting anything classier.

"Thank you, Auggie," she said, receiving it.

"We'll sit outside?" Auggie asked, feeling a little less anxious hearing her say his nickname.

They each took a seat in a rocking chair out on the verandah.

"It's a beautiful home," Mrs. Walker said.

"Thank you. Annie will have to show you its finer details when she's back."

"You've known Annie as long as she worked... at... that place, true?"

"Yes. I took her into my charge on her first day. We've been pretty much together in some form or another ever since. Mostly as friends. Sometimes more. And finally more. I've always had her back, Mrs. Walker. No matter where in the world she was, no matter what time of day or night, Annie Walker had me. And she has me now. I'm not going anywhere, Mrs. Walker."

"When were you in Iraq, Auggie?"

"Two-thousand-and-seven," Auggie rattled off.

"And Annie started?"

"Oh-nine," said Auggie.

"So she never knew you before you were blinded then?"

"No, she didn't."

"And it's never been a problem?"

"For me it has been. For Annie, I don't think so. For us together? No. It's the smallest of the things we've dealt with since we met. Your daughter is an amazing woman. She's completely accepting and creative and thoughtful and empathetic and selfless. And I don't think she learned all those things on her own. And it wasn't just a fluke, because your other daughter is the same way.

"Mrs. Walker, I love Annie. I would do anything to keep her safe and happy. That's a promise to you. I will always put her first."

He heard the rockers under her chair creak forward on the wooden boards, and her hand rested on his forearm, though she said nothing.

Auggie heard Annie's car coming up the drive and the engine stopped. Mrs. Walker heard it, too, she took her hand from Auggie's arm and stood, walking around the deck of the verandah to the front of the house to meet her daughter. Auggie stood, too, knowing Mrs. Walker had already forgiven them both.


	26. Chapter 26

**I do not own this show of ours**

**I do not own its cast or stars**

**I do not own the right to stakes**

**I do not own the cashit makes**

**But what I own is mine for shares**

**I own I need Covert Affairs.**

Chapter Twenty-Six

"That wasn't so bad," Annie said, taking the tea mugs to the kitchen, while Auggie chose some music to go with their delayed lunch. "What on earth did you do?"

Auggie feigned ignorance, shrugging as his fingers traced along the record albums.

He heard her walking back and he turned as her arms encircled his waist. He wrapped his own around her, and rubbed her back.

"You did something," Annie accused him, gratefully.

"I just told her how it is."

"Uh-huh. Well, I'll tell you, Auggie, she didn't take her eyes off of us the whole time. When we were putting the stuff away? I think she was cataloguing every move we made."

"Well, it's darn good we work so well together, right? No faults, there!"

"We do," Annie said, happily. She had seen her mother watching Auggie, watching how they interacted, how they put the things away and made their home workable for the two of them. She was proud of how she and Auggie impressed her mother. She knew they had. She had watched as her mother accepted each moment a little more, understanding where Annie was in her life, where she was in Auggie's life. Annie left it to her to understand where Annie was in her mother's life.

The whole thing had been so awkward and yet, when it was over, and Annie's mother nervously hugged her daughter and her future son-in-law at the doorway, every one of them felt good about the way things had turned out. There was a lot more work to it this way; that was why it was called _working_ it out.

Auggie took her hand and led her to the kitchen island to finally have their lunch. "She loves you, Annie. She loves you a lot. She worries about you. You give her good reason, you know. I think you always have. She doesn't want to lose you. And she did. It's gonna take some time."

"I don't think she'll ever trust me again."

"Give her time. You'd be surprised what people are capable of."

"I'm never surprised at what you are capable of. You can win anyone over."

"Ah, I should have been a diplomat," Auggie said.

"How many assets did you turn with that charm?" Annie said.

Auggie just smiled and winked at her.

They ate in silence for a while and then Annie sighed. "I'm really glad that's over," she admitted. "Thank you for pushing the issue."

"That's one of my jobs," Auggie said.

"You have a lot of jobs," Annie teased him.

"I'm a busy guy," Auggie replied.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie was not progressing towards the gym the way he wanted to be. They were renovating the hallways in parts of the building once again. He'd happened upon sawhorse roadblocks, plastic sheeting, staging, and various other unknown entities. Shortcuts turned into scenic routes without the scenery. Any sign indicating whether to pass or not were irrelevant. He was without a clue at one point how he should proceed when someone gave him an arm and put him back on track. Langley was supposed to be his territory, and yet, another renovation to the old building threw him well off his game, and he didn't like it one bit. He didn't trust the laser cane to give him the tactile warnings he needed to be sure of his own safety in the nightmare that was Langley Under Renovation. When he finally made it to the gym, he was mentally exhausted from the entire journey and had to sit on a bench in the tiny locker room for a moment, gathering his wits. The punching bag took an extra hard beating shortly thereafter.

Auggie was grateful when a one of his colleagues offered to walk with him back up through the maze of uncertainty. He was feeling less than enthusiastic about his day the longer it dragged on. When he got back to the DPD, Joan called him into her office. He stopped at his office to drop off his bag and trade canes, and then he walked the route to Joan's office, wondering if Annie was already to London on her latest mission for Joan.

She'd left early that morning, and Auggie had gotten up with her. He made her coffee and toast and, half asleep, sent her off to catch the five-thirty plane. He missed her the moment the cab pulled out of the driveway. It did not escape him that he missed her, nor that he had never felt this way about anyone that left his bed at four in the morning. The space on her side of the bed seemed almost to roar at him like a vacuum.

He also had to admit, but to himself, not to Eric Barber, that Barber was right. He _was_ crankier when Annie was out of country. He checked his attitude as he stood in front of Joan's desk. He knew she could read his face if he showed any slightest annoyance.

"I need you to go through the servers today," Joan was telling him. "Email addresses are being compromised again, and I don't want mine to end up on WikiLeaks. Is there anything you can do to give us double encryption until we can catch who's doing it this time?"

Auggie inwardly groaned. He was feeling twitchy and stifled today for some reason, and the idea of sitting in front of his computer keyboard, encrypting emails and tracking foreign online traffic was a tedious job for his mind when his body wanted to move. However, tech skills were his forté, and his claim to fame, so he took the job and headed back to his desk, hoping someone would be around with a coffee order very soon.

Deep in concentration, Auggie sipped his coffee, listening to his headset and reading the Braille display. He'd been working for hours when his phone rang.

"Anderson," he said, stretching his free hand.

"Is this the sexy Anderson who helps me fix my office computer when it goes on the fritz?"

Auggie lit up at the sound of Annie's voice. "Walker! I take it you're in London?"

"Just landed. Wanted to hear your voice."

"I was thinking the same thing," Auggie said, a smile from pure happiness on his face. He slid his hand along in front of his keyboard display, locating his stress ball. His hands took twice as much stress as everyone else's, and he felt it.

"I might do some window shopping," Annie said. "While I'm waiting around for this."

"Window shopping? Anything in specific you're looking for?"

"There could be something I need for an upcoming event."

"Well, when you find it, you'll know. Don't worry about it. Whatever you choose will be perfect to me. They all look the same."

Annie laughed. "You certainly put that into perspective," she said.

"Just trying to make it easier for you. I mean it, Annie. I know you want the perfect dress and you want a bit of fairy tale, but I don't care what you're wearing when you say your vows with me. I just need to feel you there beside me and I'm the proudest, happiest man in the world. But I know it's important to you. Do what feels right."

"You just don't want to get between a woman and her perfect wedding dress," she said.

"Oh, yes I do," he deadpanned.

"I love you," Annie said.

"Back at you, Annie Walker."

"I'll call you later," Annie said and Auggie hung up feeling much less tense than he had all morning. She did that for him. It was about time he married her.

Joan checked in with him twice more. Eric Barber brought him his lunch order and reminded him twice to eat it. He'd remembered what it was like before Annie had come to work with him. He worked. That was what he could do, and he did it to perfection. To distraction. His life outside work suffered but he built up his pride and self-confidence within the walls of Langley.

Now, Annie had given him pride and self-confidence outside those same walls. He was letting himself take on more of that life and he was letting himself enjoy it. He looked forward to things, he took joy in going places with her. Even the barbecue that Eric had given them was being used, and Auggie couldn't remember if there had ever been a time where he'd just entertained guests for the enjoyment of it. He'd always gone out with people for drinks. It was all so impersonal. He'd been impersonal.

"Hey," a voice filtered through the words on the computer screen in his ears. Auggie pulled the headset down and turned to the door.

"Yo," he said, waiting.

"Auggie? You heading out soon?"

_Decker._

"Yeah, I am, actually. I've about finished here."

"How about a run?"

"A run?"

"You mentioned to me before about wanting to try this tether thing. I'd like to try it. I need to burn off some steam and you look like you could use it, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really, why, you think I'm not serious?"

"No... uh, sorry, yeah, that sounds great." Auggie was impressed at his friend's growing adaptation to him, and even more so when the other man stepped over, took up Auggie's hand, and put a soft cord into it.

"Well, come on, then, shut 'er down and let's head out. We can go from your place; I have my gear in the car."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Standing out on the sidewalk in Auggie's subdivision, the two friends worked at trying to figure out how to best get a stride going. Auggie's stride was longer, but James's was faster, and it about evened up. However, the tether did not keep Auggie from pulling away from Decker, or bumping into him, and once, he stumbled right off the curb and skinned his knees. James had to straighten him out by shortening the line between them and keeping the backs of their hands actually touching as they each held the cord wrapped around their palms, moving their arms together as they set their stride.

It wasn't easy. Auggie worried about dips and potholes in the pavement, and though James made sure Auggie was protected from any traffic, Auggie still tensed up when a car passed them. He knew they couldn't run on the sidewalks, with the graded dips for the driveways that would throw him off in their unevenness, but the street still seemed far from adequate for their needs.

"Maybe we can find a track or a trail or something," puffed Decker, trying to keep in sync with Auggie and look out for anything that might trip him up. "Sustained running... I'm getting way too out of shape... unless I'm being chased by someone with a gun."

Auggie laughed but said nothing. He listened to their feet hitting the ground in unison, felt the contact with the ground, his heart pumping in his chest, his breath sweeping in and out of his lungs in rhythm with the pounding of his sneakers on the street. It wasn't the same, it was never the same. But this felt good. He wasn't sitting still, he wasn't being cautious, and he wasn't holding back. It was the same feeling that came out of it. The exhaustion that had threatened to slow him up was filtered down and swallowed up by the feeling of movement and strength and freedom. He wasn't tagging onto someone and stumbling for a foothold, he was in charge of his pace and he was safe from impediment. If this was how running would have to be, Auggie was okay with it.

They slowed up and Auggie asked for their bearings as they bent over, catching their breaths, their hands on their knees. Auggie made a little circle, keeping close to Decker, but still moving. Decker kept an eye on him just to make sure he didn't go off the curb again or into the stop sign they were close to.

"You ready to go back?" Decker asked.

"Yeah. I'm beat already. We're gonna need some work here," Auggie said, holding out his hand for the tether.

Decker grinned at his friend and then laughed, stepping over and placing the end of the cord in Auggie's outstretched hand.

"I'm definitely gonna need a beer when we get back," he said, and Auggie agreed wholeheartedly as they readied themselves and started off slowly back home, picking up their pace as they fell back into their stride.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

It was two in the morning on Sunday. Annie was on her way to the U.S. again, and, as was their usual habit, Auggie was talking her home.

"I'm practicing for the five K," Auggie said.

"What? What five K?"

Auggie let her think on that for a second and he grinned when she figured out what he meant. "You were running with James?" she asked eagerly.

"We tried it. We had a few incidents. I don't do anything without a few incidents. But all in all, Walker, I think your suggestion was pretty dead on. We're a good running match."

"And James?"

"He seemed okay with it. He's less weird about me now, Annie. I can't say that I'm not relieved about that. I really knocked him on his ass with that one."

"Yeah, well, anyone can see you're quite okay."

"Well, not me," Auggie said.

"Funny, Anderson."

"So? Are you dying to tell me about a dress or what?"

"I might be. I might just be bluffing, too."

"Always the bluffer," Auggie mumbled. "I can't wait for you to be back here beside me. This bed is huge, the other side is wayyyy the hell over there."

"I'll be there soon. We can have a nice breakfast in bed. I think I have another three hours to go."

"Call me when you land," Auggie said.

"I'll do better. You'll wake up with my arms around you."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

As true as her word, Annie was there beside Auggie when he woke up. He'd only half-woken when she'd slipped into bed, so comfortable was he with her presence. He pulled her close the second time he awoke and kissed her hair, her cheek, her ear, her mouth.

"Shall we have breakfast in bed," he whispered, "or should we have dessert first?"

He heard her giggle sleepily. "You know how much I love dessert," she murmured, turning toward him.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Ahhh, that smells _so_ good, Walker. When did you learn how to make food smell good?" Auggie sat up, feeling the tray Annie was setting down beside him and then the bed as it depressed when she sat down.

"Watch it, Buddy," she said. "My domestic skills can turn off and on to suit." She pulled herself onto the bed and close to him, reaching to the tray. "Strawberry coming," she said. "Hulled to perfection."

Auggie wouldn't have let anyone feed him anything before Annie. He wouldn't trust anyone to do something like that. But Annie, Annie took the stickers off the apples, took the stems off the strawberries, and never held out a portion too big. It took him a while to succumb to her offer, feeling embarrassed to make a fool of himself in front of her, only to realise that he couldn't. She never saw him that way.

"I got you a present," Annie said.

"You did?" Auggie said, turning his face to her.

"I did." His hand was picked up and then laid back down on top of something he could not recognise. He brought the other hand over to look closer, trying to puzzle it out. It felt like canvas or something like a tent fabric covering something foam. Disc-shaped, he decided. There was a flap in the top and something hard inside.

"Any guesses?" Annie said. "I'll give you a clue. Your little pal Toby is going to be your happiest little friend ever."

"Is it a Frisbee?" Auggie asked, completely perplexed.

"It is. Here, look," Annie said, excited. She put his hand exactly where she wanted to show him a switch that turned on a triple beep and a break, repeating. "You can play with Toby!"

Auggie wanted to smile at her exuberance. But his heart was sinking in his chest. She was excited because he could participate in something that had been impossible, and all that struck him was how adapted things had to be for him to be able to do something so simple. Finding a beeping kid's toy should not have been a challenge. It shouldn't beep out a constant reminder that he needed more help than a kid.

"Don't you like it?" Annie asked, all of a sudden sounding unsure.

Auggie shook away the dismay he realised may have crept onto his face, and replaced it with something more suitable. He hoped. "Where'd you find this?"

"Portobello Market. Auggie?"

Of course she could read him better than a lie detector. He smiled at her and pulled her tight to him. "It's great. That kid will never know what hit him. Actually, no, that will probably be me. Won't this beeping drive you nuts?"

She nuzzled her nose against his cheek. "Back yards are for noise, darling," she cooed into his ear. "It can't all be chess and Donkey Kong."

"I don't play Donkey Kong anymore," Auggie said, pretending to be offended.

"Only because they haven't made it accessible for the blind," Annie teased him right back.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Auggie said, kissing her again. "So you think I should get into Frisbee, huh?"

"Off running with James, Frisbee with the neighbour's kid, you're turning into the perfect suburban husband."

"Except I don't drive the big SUV," Auggie said.

Annie stopped. "What's bugging you? What does this mean?" She tapped the back of his hand, which rested on the Frisbee.

"I'm just... amazed at you, that's all. You always find the ways around everything for me."

"Hey, you lead the way, I'm just taking notes."

"I love you entirely too much and yet not enough," Auggie said quietly.

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing," Annie said, trying to lighten the mood again.

Auggie smiled genuinely this time, and Annie ate the last of the strawberries before telling him she'd done so.

The morning was always the nicest time of their weekends. They were able to Skype chat with two of the children from Italy and then Annie decided she needed to go back to sleep for a while to be rested enough for work on Monday morning. Auggie worked on tidying the kitchen after she climbed back up the stairs for a couple of hours of sleep. He was clearing the tray they'd had for breakfast and he once again brushed over the oddly distinctive Frisbee. He set it aside, not wanting to think about the special circumstances for Annie's excitement over her purchase. This was one instance where Auggie didn't want to be set apart and distinct. He went back to cleaning, carefully filing the dishes into the dishwasher, order as always. He ran his hand along the counters, along the island, making sure he'd gotten every last piece of cutlery. He wiped them down and checked everything one more time. He came across that damn Frisbee again. He picked it up and made his way to the patio doors. He closed them quietly behind him and stepped carefully to the stairs, locating the railing.

If a kid could do this, surely Auggie could. Surely. Right?

Throwing wasn't the hard part. He listened to the sound of the beep carry off over the air and loop down somewhere in front of him, slightly to the right. He rolled his head back, knowing this was not going to be the fastest paced practice run anyone ever had, and then he set his jaw and made his way tentatively across his law toward the sound. Finally, after sweeping his hand through the grass left and right, it hit the canvas disc and he stood up, resetting his bearings. He could hear the breeze in the trees, the different leaves either rustling or shooshing, and he could hear the way the house blocked the sound of everything else. He aimed for somewhere near the corner of the verandah or the tree in front of it, and then made his way to retrieve it.

Well, at least if the kid threw it, he could find it for him. Almost as good as that dog the kid asked about.

Mindlessly, Auggie pitched the Frisbee, hoping every time that it wouldn't land in a branch above, beeping incessantly until the battery gave out. Each time, he moved off in search of it, feeling his pride aching as he tried to figure it out in his solitude.

Annie had moved out onto the verandah, leaning against the post, holding a cup of tea. She watched Auggie quietly, knowing now why he'd withdrawn, knowing there were some places she couldn't go with him. Knowing there were many things he had to work out for himself. When she finished her tea, she set the cup down against the wall of the house and called out to him, moving down the stairs.

"Hey, Slugger, want a catcher?"

Auggie was momentarily taken aback. He waited for her to approach him and she rested her hand on his arm when she got to him.

"Come on," Annie said. "You can catch this."

"I can't catch anything," Auggie said, turning, following her movement across the lawn.

"You can catch this," Annie said.

Auggie heard only her belief in him in her voice. She never once thought he couldn't do this. She bought it so he could play a game of it with Toby next time. It was because she believed in his abilities.

She primed him, she set him up, she cheered and laughed at her own throws, she took all the pressure away from Auggie and his own struggle to catch it just once. Locating it on the ground was getting easier, but in the air, he still didn't have it timed just right.

Annie assured him he was getting closer. He could hear the sound as it sailed up and then cut back down. After what felt to Auggie like three-hundred tries, he caught it. He was so amazed, it didn't register that he had it in his hand right away, until he heard the _whoop_ from Annie, and then the sound of her cheer hurrying towards him, her arms grabbing around his neck.

"I told you!" she said. "And you don't believe me enough, Auggie Anderson. My hunches are always correct."

Auggie laughed. "You always do have the best hunches," he said, grinning at her.

"We should probably try a few more times, just to make sure you have it down," Annie said.

"Bring it on," Auggie said, and he reached out as Annie moved off, playfully slapping her bottom before she was out of reach. He laughed out loud as he heard her giggle.

"Ready?" Annie called.

"Never!" Auggie replied, listening hard.

"Incoming!" Annie called out, and Auggie turned his ear, reaching out, calculating the sound and the distance and the angle. Two fails, and then two catches right in a row, and Auggie was starting to feel like he'd figured out a method. He was basing the sound on where the Frisbee was, when he should have put the Frisbee ahead of the sound by a fraction of a second. Also, if he swung his head from side to side, he could get a better read on what side of his body it was on and where it was curving to.

They were worn out from running and laughing. Auggie had missed running into one of the trees by the merest of measurements and Annie slid on the grass like she was sliding into base at one point, but a couple of hours had passed and Auggie no longer felt like simple child's toy had beat him. Annie sounded winded and Auggie felt like he had worked out. There was nothing childish about that.

"Go get Toby," Auggie said, as he and Annie lay in the hammock to catch their breath. "And tell him the game is on."

Auggie couldn't see the look of absolute faith and love on Annie's face, but when she touched his cheek and squeezed his hand and he knew it anyway.


	27. Chapter 27

**As if USA Network even cares about any of this, I promise not to own Covert Affairs and it's characters and all affiliated images therein, blah, blah, blah, I make no money from their show, they can rest assured they will keep all their pockets stuffed with their own incomes. However, I will not give up my dream to them. They won't ever have the satisfaction of thinking fans gave up and moved on while I'm around. And so, that being said, sorry for the delay on this chapter. It's not over in my world.**

Chapter Twenty-Seven – SATURDAY

"Oh, wow, Auggie!" shouted Toby as the Frisbee whisked past his ear. "You nearly got me that time!"

"Didn't you catch it?" Auggie asked, stopping and standing up. "You mean I got it that close and you didn't catch it?"

"I caught it," said Toby.

"Oh, well, good job then, Kiddo."

"No, I lied, Auggie. I didn't catch it." Toby sounded a bit remorseful.

Auggie smiled. "Thanks for telling me, Tobe. You're getting better, though. I can tell that."

"You're getting better, too, Auggie," said the boy and Auggie laughed out loud.

"Thanks, Tobe."

"Hi!" called a voice across Auggie's driveway. Auggie turned toward the voice, puzzled until he heard Toby call out to his father.

"Dad! Come, you can meet Auggie!"

"Hi," said the man again, and Auggie stepped towards his voice, his hand outstretched to greet his neighbour for the first time.

"Hey, August Anderson," he said, waiting for the other man's hand to grab his.

"Hi! Paul Hardings. Good to meet you," said Toby's father, finally shaking Auggie's hand. "Sorry if my boy's been over here bugging you. I told him not to be a pest, I hope he hasn't been."

"No, not at all. We were just perfecting our Frisbee skills," said Auggie, half-turning to include Toby.

"He loves his Frisbee. Oh, _that's_ a different kind of Frisbee. Is that yours?"

Auggie wasn't positive, but he thought Toby's father was probably addressing him. "Yeah, that's mine. My fiancé bought it so I could play with Tobe."

"Oh, he has plenty of Frisbees, you didn't have to get one. This kid loves Frisbees. And rubber balls. Don'tchya, Tobe? Against our bedroom door on weekend mornings?"

"It's a good throwing hallway," replied Toby.

"Kid needs a dog." Said Mr. Hardings. "Wife won't hear of it. We're working on her, though, eh, Tobe?"

"Yeah. I want a dog so bad."

Auggie smiled. "I would wager to bet you'll have one some day, Kiddo."

"So, how are you liking this old house?" Mr. Hardings asked. "I didn't know if it would sell, the Gladstones seemed pretty choosy. But they were great old neighbours."

"Yeah, we met them when we put in our offer. We really liked them."

"Well, this place is great, if you like rustic. You're married?"

"No, we're engaged. Getting married in September."

"Kids?"

"Would it be me out here trying to catch this Frisbee if I had kids?" Auggie joked. He didn't hear any response but the other man could have smiled. He shrugged, shaking his head with a grin. "No, we don't have any kids... yet. But it's on the wish list."

"We wanted another but it just never happened," said Mr. Hardings. "But... one never knows, right? August, is it? Nice Corvette, by the way, couldn't help but see that going by."

"Yeah, August. Uh, you want a beer or something?"

"Yeah, sure."

Auggie turned and headed toward the house, his hand out to alert him to the bushes in front of the verandah or something to give him an idea exactly where he was. He could've used Toby's shoulder right now, but for some reason, he didn't want to do that in front of the kid's father in his own yard.

He was good in his estimation of where he was, his hand grazed over the rosebush and he kept moving to the right. _Bingo!_ There was the railing. He climbed the steps and stopped, turning his head. He didn't hear the other man behind him.

"Come on, Dad!" He did hear Toby, his footsteps on the stairs beside Auggie.

Auggie stayed at the top of the stairs, waiting.

"Dad?"

"Toby, we shouldn't bother Mr. Anderson."

"But he—"

"Come on, Toby. It was nice to meet you, Auggie. I hope you enjoy the house. We'll try to keep Toby from bothering you too much."

"He's no bother," Auggie said, listening to the boy drag his feet back down the stairs. "Tobe? I challenge you to a rematch, okay?"

"Yeah, for sure, Auggie! Dad, do we have to leave already?"

"Your mother wants you to come help her," said his father. "Come on, say goodbye to Mr. Anderson."

"See ya, Auggie!"

"See ya, Kiddo," said Auggie.

He didn't need to ask to know why Paul Hardings had suddenly switched gears. The man had just figured out his neighbour was blind.

His disappointment about this was soon overshadowed by thoughts of Toby. Why hadn't the kid told his parents about this one little fact? Had the kid forgotten to mention it? Had he not thought it important? Had he mentioned it and they hadn't heard or believed him? Usually kids had fewer problems with his disability than adults, and obviously this was the case again. He wondered what the father was telling his son about blind people. He wondered whether Toby was refuting the teachings.

He stood there thinking about it for way too long. If Toby had a chance of any kind, he'd be back to try to get another Frisbee toss game in. Auggie decided not to worry about the kid's parents. He didn't have to prove himself to them. He didn't.

Except now he couldn't stop thinking about how he wanted to prove himself to the Hardings. He turned and found the door handle to the patio doors, heading inside, deep in thought.

"Your opponent went home?" Annie asked him.

It took a moment for her question to register with him. Then he turned toward her voice. "What?"

"Toby, did he go home?"

"Oh, yeah. His father just came over."

"Oh, called home, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess he was needed."

Annie saw Auggie was distracted. She stood up. "What's the matter, Auggie?"

Auggie sighed and brushed it off. "No, it's nothing. I like that kid. He has a lot of questions, but I like him. I think maybe they think he asks too many questions, but the kid just wants to know about dogs and Frisbees and how many elastic bands it would take strung together to reach the moon."

"Well, he's come to the right person then," Annie said, tapping Auggie's chest. He reached out and pulled her close, sighing into her hair. The kid was definitely not the problem.

"So," Annie said, pulling back and looking at him. He smiled at her, waiting. She trailed her hand down his arm and took his hand, guiding him to the red sofa.

"You all packed?" Auggie asked.

"Yes. I think so. It's been so long since I went camping, actual camping, that I'm not sure if I have enough or if I have too much."

"I have a camper's checklist," Auggie grinned. "Remember, I'm a pro."

"I think it's good that we decided to get away. This whole wedding thing is starting to get out of hand. If Danielle calls me one more time to make sure I have the flowers coming on the right morning, I'm going to scream."

"Oh, but it has to be better than my mother checking to make sure your mother isn't wearing sunflower yellow to the wedding every other day."

"Speaking of my mother," Annie started.

"I don't know if I want to," Auggie said. Despite their every measured move not to have this wedding go seismic, their families had begun suggesting little details that they could incorporate. They had held their ground, Auggie fielding his family, namely his mother, and Annie holding her own against Danielle and their mother. Danielle had pushed to come help them in the final week before the big day, but Annie refused to let her, saying they were taking that last weekend and going camping, just the two of them. It had only been an excuse, to keep people from descending on their home and things from escalating into too much activity. But the more she had thought about it, the more she had liked the idea. She had brought it to Auggie after mulling it over for the afternoon, and after some thinking, Auggie had agreed it would be good to get a final bit of alone time before the maelstrom happened.

The more he thought about it, the more he looked forward to it. He used to love camping. He had loved that part of Eagle Scouts, and he'd earned the badges to prove it. However, he'd never camped since that tour in Iraq, which had been a kind of camping in itself. He was sure there were parts of it he couldn't enjoy anymore, parts he couldn't do, but he was intrigued by the challenge it offered. And with Annie by his side, it would be safe. They would prove it together, no-one would be around to question anything they tried. It would be just them and the wilderness. Together.

They had borrowed, bought, and cajoled some camping gear, and had been working at packing their list for the past few evenings. They had begun loading up Annie's SUV after supper, before taking a break, and then having their young neighbour show.

"They're just trying to be helpful," Annie said. "I guess."

Auggie rolled his eyes and smirked. "We're getting out of town. If we have to call Joan to cover for us should they descend, I'm not averse to the idea."

Early Friday morning, the SUV pulled out of the drive before the sun even cracked the sky. Annie had no idea where they were headed, but Auggie let her make the destination a surprise. He liked when Annie surprised him.

"You're allowed to doze," Annie said. "I know cars are boring for you."

"I know. I'm still here. I'm just relaxing."

"You deserve that," Annie said. "Joan's had you covering more bases than Hank Aaron at an elementary school gym class."

Auggie only turned his head and gave her a look.

"Well, she has. She has at least three ops going under your watch, I know. And you've been going after that WikiLeaks hacker for weeks now. Not to mention the Paris desk, the Kohber file and the Acker trace."

"What are you, a spy?" Auggie smiled but didn't open his eyes.

Annie laughed. "I don't know all your secrets, Handsome, but I know a lot of 'em."

Auggie disliked the distance and the untility box between their seats. She wasn't so close he could just slide his hand over to her knee. Modern vehicles had none of the old conveniences. He knew that he would soon have her all to himself, so he let himself be content with just listening to her talk, feeling her presence there beside him fully.

"Sun's coming up," she said as they cruised smoothly along the highway.

"Yeah? What colour is the sky now?"

"Kind of a grey-orange. With a touch of mauve."

Auggie grinned. "That's quite the combo."

"Can you picture that one?" Annie asked him.

He shook his head. "It's not really quite right," he said.

"How do you know?"

"It's just not coming to mind," he said with a shrug. "I know it's not right but I can't seem to picture it."

"Well, the sky ahead of is like a dark grey purple. You can just start making out different shapes in different shades of grey. Out your window, the sky is light at the edge of the horizon, and it's almost a smoky orange glow. Not bright orange, more like a hint of it behind the shadow. It's starting to outline all the shapes with a bit of a brightness. They sort of have a bit of hope to them, with the glow that's starting to hit them. The highway is changing from a dark ribbon broken up with lines, to almost a white colour in comparison to the shadows still around as the light gets stronger. How's that?"

Auggie had been entranced in Annie's description, and the images were rolling freely into his mind. Annie gave him so much light.

"You couldn't have given me a better description," Auggie said, opening his eyes and turning towards her. "I see it now."

"I'm glad," she replied, and he could hear her smile in her voice. "Sun just cracked the edge of the world. The glow is now kind of a pale yellow orange and it's getting much brighter. Are you hungry?"

"I am. Could do with some coffee, too."

"Good, because I'm pulling in here and we can have both."

Auggie nodded with a smile. She parked and took his order, running inside the small restaurant shop to grab some breakfast for them. She returned in less than ten minutes and Auggie could smell coffee and hashbrowns.

"English muffin with eggs, hashbrown, coffee. Napkins are in this bag. I'm putting your coffee in the cup holder to the front left of your left knee. Need anything else?"

Auggie shook his head. "Nope, it sounds good to me," he replied. "Are you going to drive and eat at the same time?"

"No, I thought we'd just sit here and take our time. One thing about this car, we have plenty of room." The sound of the bags crinkling stopped and Annie laughed. "I see that face," she giggled. "And I _know_ what you're thinking. Save it for the tent, Soldier."

Auggie laughed and took a bite of his breakfast sandwich. As they ate, Annie gave Auggie a running commentary of the people coming and going in the early morning hours to get their caffeine and the breakfast they were too half-asleep to make before they left the house. When they were finished, Annie started the ignition, set her coffee in the cup holder, and leaned over to Auggie, turning his face with her hand and kissing him.

They were back on the road again, and Auggie didn't care where the car was pointed. He was with Annie, the love of his life, the one he'd been waiting for before he knew her and long after he'd met her.

The last part of the trip was a scenic side road. Annie checked her GPS several times and then she touched Auggie's arm as they came in view of a lake.

"I see it."

"By _it_ you mean?"

"The lake."

"What lake? No, wait. I don't want to know where we are. I want to say we were completely lost together. Is it a big lake?"

"It's a fairly big lake. I can see all the way around from here, though," she said as they pulled closer. Auggie felt the vehicle bob around the rougher terrain as Annie manoeuvred as close as she could to good camp site. She stopped and turned off the engine.

"It's beautiful here."

Auggie smiled, feeling it. He opened the door to hear nothing but the sound of birds, a gentle breeze in the trees around him, and the openness of the lake to his left as he climbed out.

"It's so peaceful," Annie said, looking around. "Do you want me to describe it to you?"

"I can hear the trees," Auggie said, turning his head. "All I hear at home when it's quiet is traffic. Even at the house, when you go outside, you can still hear it off there in the distance. This..." His voice trailed off as he closed his eyes and breathed in the air. "I can smell everything. I can smell the trees and the water, and the sun on the old, long grass."

"I guess I don't have to describe it for you, you already have a clear picture," Annie said. "It's pretty much that."

Auggie grinned at her over the hood of the SUV, and then he turned back around the door and reached in for his cane. First things first. Once he had that unfolded and in hand, he took a few steps in exploration, and then headed to the back of the vehicle to help Annie with the equipment. Annie scouted out a good spot not too far away, and they set to moving things over. Annie took a rope from the SUV and tied it to the slender tree near the front driver-side bumper. She walked along to another tree and wound the rope around the tree, shoulder-height. She continued this as Auggie took their gear out of the vehicle, moving in as straight a line as possible to a nice little flat spot with a good shelter of trees on one side. She tied the end of the rope to a tree nearest the open, even ground, and then headed back to help Auggie bring the gear. When she got there, she stopped Auggie and kissed him again, longer this time.

"I could stay here for a very long time if that's how it's gonna be," he said.

"Come on, come check it out," she said, taking his hand as they walked to the front of the vehicle. She placed it on the rope tied on the tree, and he directed a wink at her before following it with one hand and keeping his cane sweeping the ground in front of him to learn the terrain before he carried things. Annie followed him, carrying a pack, letting him take his time. There was all the time in the day here. She walked him around the camp site plot, and he found it to be flat and slightly grassy. Returning to the SUV, he again noted the terrain and how many trees he passed. He folded his cane and put it on the passenger seat. Annie loaded him up, a tent pack over his shoulder, a cooler in one hand. He trailed the side of the car to the tree with the rope and began moving things over to their perfect spot. It didn't take them too long to have the gear all over, and Annie put down a blanket for them to take a break on. They faced the lake, and Annie told Auggie about the kingfisher that was fishing over on the other side.

"Did you pack your fishing pole?" Auggie asked her with a grin.

"I may have packed yours," Annie replied so quickly he wondered momentarily if he even had a fishing pole and had she found it? He was quite positive there had been no such thing in the apartment.

"You look puzzled," she said.

"No, you got me for a minute there," he said.

"You don't have a fishing pole, do you?"

He shook his head.

"That's how a spy double-talks for information."

"Oh, _is_ it? And what information were you searching for?"

"Did you ever fish?"

"Got the merit badge."

Annie laughed. "Is there anything you _haven't_ done?"

"Well," Auggie said, clamping his hand over her knee. "I haven't camped blind."

"Oh. Right. Well, you're doing pretty damn well so far."

"Wait until you see me put up that tent," he joked. "You ain't seen nothin' until you see a tent shaped like a rhombus."

"How about I peg the tent, and you just get the poles up? Teamwork."

"Sounds like a plan I can work with."

"You find a way to work with any plans," Annie said. "Oh, the kingfisher just caught his fish."

"Living up to his name," Auggie said.

"So... tent... campfire... what do you want to do first?"

Auggie shrugged. "I'm not going to be any use to you with firewood," he said. "But my fire-building skills are unmatched."

"Perfect," Annie said. "I'll go get us some wood. I think we can put it just over here, there's no grass, it's just little flat stones. We can make a ring of the bigger rocks along the side of the lake."

Between the two of them, they had the campfire built and ready to light, and the tent up, within the hour. Auggie sat back on the blanket near the site of the campfire and absent-mindedly traced the blanket and the ground around him with both hands.

"Is this my Eagle Scouts blanket I gave to you to take to the Farm?" he asked, the idea just coming to him.

"Yes," Annie said. No doubt.

"You've had it all this time?"

"I kept it on my bed," Annie said softly. "It stayed very close to me."

"Annie..." The words he couldn't speak turned into a smile that crossed over into his eyes.

"I know. I should have given it back."

"Obviously, you shouldn't have. I'm glad you had it."

"It's very soft," she said.

He replied to her with a passionate kiss as a field sparrow flitted through the trees, pipping at them.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Here," Auggie said, finding another acorn under his hand. "Give it a try." He was trying to show Annie how to turn an acorn into a whistle. He had been impressing her with the survival knowledge he'd learned in Scouts, telling her he'd become Eagle Scout at age sixteen when he'd earned enough badges to merit the title.

"Gahd, Auggie, you always were pretty dorky, weren't you?"

"You like it," he teased her, hoping she did.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she said. "Your merit badges have sure helped _me_ out in the field," she said. "I've relied on them through you."

She had watched him build the wood into a well-aired construct, and make a rock border around it in a slightly oval ring, and when she found some straight alder branches, she watched as he took out a small sharp knife and whittled the end into a point. His fingers found one branch that had a fork in the end, so he carved both tips sharp.

"Double marshmallow," he said, handing it over to her with a grin.

"You think of everything," she said, always admiring how he used his hands so perfectly.

"I hope you packed fire-friendly food," he said.

"I have all the required campfire foods," Annie said. "Hot dogs, marshmallows, beans, corn. I have two pots and a grate to set up on rocks over coals. Plus, we have chips, chocolate, and granola bars."

"If only you could have figured out a way to keep your beloved ice-cream frozen," Auggie lamented.

"Come on, camping requires all the staples."

"Oh, I know it."

"You probably have the merit badge," Annie said.

"I do," Auggie deadpanned. If she was going to keep teasing him about it, he would have to tease her right back.

"Well, I know you brought some water, having lugged the jug of it in. You packed the booze, right?"

"I can't believe you didn't ask me before now," Annie said. "Do you want a beer now after all your hard work?"

"Just let me get this lit. You have more wood around here somewhere, right?"

"Yeah, to our left I put a good stack that will do us until the morning. I'll get some more later, or in the morning."

Auggie held out the matches to Annie. "I'll let you do the honours," he said. "My lady."

She grinned and took the matches, lighting one and taking his hand and placing it quickly over hers, moving them together to light the bonfire as a team. It caught and Auggie heard the snap and crackle as the flames licked along the drier parts of the wood and branches. He soon smelled the smoke and it flooded his memory banks with so many fires he'd sat beside just like this one.

"Is it going to stay lit?" Auggie asked.

"It's already taking hold," she said. "Don't worry, I won't ask them to take your badge back. You still build a mean fire."

"Then I _will_ take that beer now," Auggie said, feeling a bit smug about himself.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Okay, what's this one?" Annie asked, placing the leaf against Auggie's hand. He took his, his fingers tracing over the shape of the edges. "That's simple," Auggie said, scowling. "Maple. Give me a harder one."

"Okay, Smartie-Pants. How about this one?" Another leaf touched the back of his hand. He took it, again feeling it's shape and the veins within. He squinted, trying to remember. "Is it ash?"

"Kinda the same shape. Here. This might help. A branch."

He felt the feathery brush of several leaves against his forearm and he took the slender branch in hand, touching the pairs of leaves that fluttered along it.

"Ah," Auggie smiled. "That's a sumac."

"Damn. I can't stump you," she said. "How about this one?"

Auggie held out his hand and in a moment, he felt a small ruffled leaf placed there. He traced the heart shape with its many veins and small points to each one at the edge of the leaf.

He searched his memory for that shape. He knew there was a tree that had that ruffled edge to its leaves. What was it? Oak leaves were far more distinct than this, but he knew he knew this one.

Annie saw the concentration on his face as he gingerly touched the edges of the leaf. She tapped another hint on his arm and he moved his hand toward it, taking it from her.

Papery thin, almost curling in his hand and Auggie recognised what she'd placed there.

"Birch," he said with confidence.

"You win," Annie said.

"What do I win?" he asked her with a grin.

"Everything," she replied, sliding in close. He put his arm around her.

The light was dropping down, casting a warm evening glow off the lake. They'd prepared their tent and had made themselves a pretty decent camping meal. Auggie had let Annie be in charge of the toasting and grilling, and he'd worked at getting them each another beer, and arranging the condiments and plates. The food was simple, and yet, to Auggie, nothing had tasted better to him in months. It may have been the fresh air, or the sounds of the natural world around him, but everything seemed easier to feel, to taste. Everything felt gentle, unsolicited, only augmented by the quietude and undemanding surroundings.

Now, the fire crackling in front of them, Auggie and Annie spent minutes in golden silence, just feeling the moment. Annie would now and again give a visual that she felt Auggie needed or wanted, and he smiled contentedly.

"We should do this every year," Annie said, watching the fire dancing in the embers. As the sky dimmed, the flames seemed to get stronger, more dramatic. A spark popped, making Auggie jump. Annie said nothing, but continued to stroke his forearm with her fingers.

A loon appeared on the lake, and Annie made a game out of guessing where he would come up from his dives.

"Where you right that time?" Auggie asked as she alerted him again to its resurface.

"Nope. Way off."

He chuckled. "Toby is like you."

"Toby, the kid?"

"Yeah, Toby, the kid. He tried to tell me he'd missed my perfect throw. I kind of said he should have caught it. I felt badly afterwards, I didn't mean to pressure him. But it was great, he told me he caught it fine. And then he admitted immediately that he hadn't caught it. Told me the truth instead of an easy lie. You could have just told me you were winning at this loon game."

"I don't ever," she said. "Not any more."

He knew he'd never really _know_, especially after she'd admitted to sitting next to him on that fateful bus trip downtown to Helen's apartment, but he'd only ever believed she'd regretted it and had never, in fact, kept anything from him again. It was the only thing to think, the only way to go forward.

"I know," he said. "I always trust you."

"Well, it comes from the amount of trust you put into me," she replied. "And the sun has just touched the treetops over there."

Auggie lifted his chin, as if he was glancing up to the line of the horizon. "No better team," he said.

"Joan always knew it."

He smiled, thinking of his mentor. He hoped she wasn't working the weekend, hoped she was spending time with her beautiful family. He hoped Arthur had put his suits aside for a couple of days and was down on the ground getting dirty with Mackenzie. He needed them to be okay, because if they could be, so could he and Annie.

"So, this dress..." Auggie started, tickling her below her rib cage.

She squirmed, giggling. "Nope, you can't know about it until the wedding day."

"I can't believe it's here," he said.

"It's taken a lifetime," Annie mused wistfully.

"It's been worth it," he told her softly. "You'll let me see you before everyone else does, right?"

"Auggie, if I had my way, you'd be the _only_ one who sees me on our wedding day. With hands, ears, mouth, any way possible."

"Damn, can we just uninvite everyone right now? Or maybe I'll just ravish you here and be done with it." He turned, sliding her down his arm to the blanket, leaning over her, finding her cheek with his palm and guiding his mouth to hers.

"You'll see it before anyone else," she whispered, a smile in her voice. He felt his own smile cross his face and he kissed her behind her ear, down her neck, along her bare shoulder.

"What's this?" he asked with a grin as he ran his fingertips along her arm. "Are those goosebumps? Are you cold? Or does this make that happen?" Again he kissed behind her ear, along her neck, simultaneously brushing his fingers over her arms, feeling the little fine hairs standing up and the tiny bumps that rose from her skin.

"Maybe a little bit of both," she said.

"Do you have a sweater or another blanket?"

"I have a shawl, let me grab it."

He moved back so she could get up for a minute, and felt the warmth of the fire on his face. As Annie returned, she added some more wood to the bonfire before settling back beside him again.

"Hi," she said, grinning.

"Hi," he replied, returning the smile.

"You look happy."

"I _am_ happy."

"I'm glad." Annie pulled the bag of marshmallows over to her and got the toasting stick. "You want another marshmallow?"

Auggie nodded. "Toast me," he said.

Annie laughed, putting the marshmallows on the stick and holding them carefully above the red coals rather than over the flames. She didn't need Auggie's badges to know how to toast a perfect marshmallow. She glanced over at him, the flickering fire reflecting off his face and in his eyes. There were many obstacles and hurdles in their lives, but together, they would work around them and succeed. Annie had no doubt.


	28. Chapter 28

**Although the characters are not mine, I am forever **_**Characters Welcome**_** more than the conglomerate that actually owns them. So while I make no money from Covert Affairs, I make CA fans some happiness instead. Which is how it should have been done in the first place. Fans matter. **

**A shout out to **_**EmeraldEyedPhoenix**_** for the Auggie discussions. I miss having them in grand scale, so thank you for keeping them alive in our chats! Thanks for the ideas and the feels.**

**And, as always, hugs and love to the Covert Crew.**

Chapter Twenty-Eight

SUNDAY

"Annie?" Auggie called gently. He slid his hand across the blanket, feeling for her, but she wasn't there. He must have dozed off to the snapping and the heat of the fire. He called for her again, and then heard a splash. He turned toward the water, calling her a third time.

"It's okay, Auggie!" she called back. "I'm here. You know, the water is still quite lovely."

"You don't say," Auggie said with a grin.

"Come on in," she said, seductively.

He hesitated, but then, he summoned the Auggie he knew from before, and he stood, pulling off his shirt, throwing it behind him, away from the fire. He unbuckled his belt and sat back down for a minute, pulling off his pants, standing back up in just his boxers. He turned back to the sound of Annie splashing and the crackle of the flames. He took a grand arc around the fire, not wanting to tread on hot coals with bare feet. He trusted Annie to let him know if he was heading into a tree or into a ditch, though out of instinct, he kept a hand out front and one to the side.

"Annie?"

"Keep coming. I'm right in front of you. You're almost to the water."

"Are the stars out?" he asked, his toes finding the lake. He took one step and felt a mixture of gravel and mud under his feet.

Her voice was just beyond him. "Yes," she replied. "All the stars."

Auggie smiled, closing his eyes but tilting his head, seeing them in his mind. He reached out toward her and took a step, anticipating her touch. After another step, it came. Her hand slid over his and he felt a rush of love as she pulled him toward her into the water. He dipped down and she wrapped both legs around his hips under the water, her hands around his neck, pulling him close to kiss him. His hands slipped around her, and soon discovered that she wore nothing, no underwear, no swimsuit, no bra. She was a goddess in her own skin, Auggie could never have enough hands to see her beauty, though he gave it his all, pressing with his thumbs, stroking with his fingertips, the buffer of the water slowing the movements down into a ballet. Annie, in turn, cascaded his neck with kisses.

"Tell me," he murmured. "Tell me about the stars."

Annie whispered through her kisses. "Speckled across the sky, they're all twinkling. Some are brighter than others." She sighed. "Some burn strong and fierce. They're so beautiful, Auggie. I never feel alone when I can see the stars."

Auggie's cheek pressed against her ear. "You're never gonna be alone again."

"Is that so, husband-to-be?" she asked, a grin solidly in her words.

"That is so, wife-to-be." He twined his hands around her body, and hers covered his until he laced his fingers through hers, holding her close.

"I sure got a whole lot luckier the day I met you," Annie said.

"You did," Auggie said with a wink. "Though, as I recall, you really aren't the type who needs luck."

She laughed, and Auggie grinned. They had both remembered everything about each other, even little things that seemed irrelevant. They both had worked so diligently to stay apart, they had used so much energy keeping themselves separate, and it felt entirely freeing to just remember, to just love each other.

Annie let go, and pushed off, and Auggie felt a rush of water around him and heard the sound of her body breaking through the water in front of him, away. He stayed where he was, listening, imagining her there, the water around her and the sky above her velvet black and speckled with stars.

"Where'd you go?" he called to her.

"I'm here," she called to him gently from somewhere straight ahead of him. "You should come here with me."

Auggie lifted his feet off the bottom and made three powerful strokes toward her voice, then stopped, listening for her.

"Swim with me," she said, and as he did, she continued. "You have your swimmer's badge, I presume."

"Yes," he said. "I actually have five badges pertaining to water."

She laughed, her voice a lighthouse in the dark. He imagined her body gracefully gliding though the water ahead of him. He wanted her, and she was all his. He'd already caught her.

"Can you see me?" he asked, curious.

"Yes," she said. "Just barely. Just your shadow."

He could hear the water rippling from her movements. "Me, too," he said. He heard her on his right, and then behind his shoulder. He turned in the water, following her sound. She continued around him in a circle.

"Where are we? I mean, here, where's the shore?"

"We're two-thirds of the way to the other side. Come on, we'll go back."

As they reached the other side and Annie once again slid her arms around Auggie's neck when he got his foothold, pulling him back. He would follow that fuzzy aura anywhere. He kissed her again, and then lifted her up out of the water, and she laughed, her hair streaming water and her arms tight around his neck. He turned a little to his left, and then began walking. He could feel the water on his legs receding with each step, so he knew he was headed in the right direction. Once on the shore, he took a few steps and stopped, still holding her to him. He didn't want to walk her into the fire and he wasn't sure exactly where it was.

Annie dropped back to her feet, but kept her arms around him.

"Auggie?"

"Hmm?"

"I may have sent Eyal a message. I know he can't come to it, but I wanted to welcome him to our wedding anyway. I wanted to thank him for bringing me back to you."

"He brought you back to me a few times," Auggie said. "I'm glad you did. As... jealous as I was of you working with him, I appreciate everything he did for you. For us. For the agency. He's a good guy, Annie."

"I hope things are working out with his family," Annie said. "He told me about his son. He showed him to me, playing sport with his friends. It... means a great deal to him to have a second chance."

"I can understand that sentiment," Auggie said, nuzzling her neck. "And I'm not wasting mine right now. Can you give me a hand to collect everything, and we'll go try out that tent and see how sturdy it is."

"That sounds like a good idea," Annie said, already ahead of him.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie woke to the sound of birds. Birds, making that early morning sound that signalled the dawn approaching. Annie's body was pressed against his. Her whole body. He relished the feel of her skin against his. It was as close as he got to seeing all of her at once. She'd abandoned her own sleeping bag to join him in his when they'd finally settled down to actual sleeping.

He'd forgotten how hard the ground could be when one laid on it all night. Of course, he'd been much younger in those days. A lifetime ago.

He'd lived so many lifetimes since. All of them intense, all of them life-changing, all of them filled with danger and intrigue. Puzzles. He lived on puzzles. How to solve them using the pieces he had in the box. He'd solved this one, with Annie. He'd solved a lot of them with Annie. But this was a big one. Being married. Really, truly married. Not a hoax wedding, not a false marriage, not a sham op honeymoon. It was real.

The sounds of birds got louder, their calls changing as the day grew brighter. Annie stirred and Auggie kissed her shoulder. He couldn't ever have enough of her. She turned toward him, and touched his cheek. He knew she was looking deeply into his face when she did that. He smiled.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," she said back, a tired smile in her voice.

"Sleep okay?"

"I did. I like this. We should do this again sometime."

"Maybe it will be our anniversary get-away," Auggie said.

"Okay," Annie replied quickly.

"That was fast."

"It's so good to not be at someone's call. Nor being stalked by our families. I'll do this again, why, don't you want to?"

Auggie laughed. "I never said that. I am as into this as you are. And I'm as into you as this," he kissed her cheek. "And this," he kissed her other cheek. "And this," he said, kissing her lips.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie had sat eating granola bars, listening to Annie heat water and make coffee and wash her face. When she was finished with her water, she filled the basin with more hot water added to it, and went over to where Auggie sat.

"Coffee's ready," she said. "Water's ready."

Auggie had put out his hand for the coffee, but Annie took it, placing her other hand over theirs, pulling him up. "It's over here. I set you a little place. I'm just hanging up this wet stuff. There was a lot of dew, things outside the tent are damp."

"It's getting sunny again, I can feel the warmth," Auggie said, letting himself be guided by her. "They'll dry in no time."

Annie took his hand and he bent with her as she placed his fingers on a towel folded on the ground. On it was his bag of toiletries, a bar of soap, a wash cloth, and his toothbrush. She moved his hand further back. Behind the bag was a plastic basin with steaming water in it. His hands found all these things and he sat, reaching one hand back toward her, a thank-you. She took it, briefly, her response. Then she went back over to put things in the sun to dry.

Auggie took a drink and made a face. Instant. There were definite drawbacks to camping, and the coffee was one of them. However, the warming sun, the sound of the water running somewhere, Annie busying herself over to his right, and within minutes, the coffee actually tasted wonderful. It tasted like sun, and simple freedom, and it tasted of the solidarity of their love. It would never taste like that back at home. It would taste like dishwater there. But not here. He settled himself down to wash up and shave. They would have to return to that so-called real life today.

Annie tidied up the campsite, and threw another few pieces of wood on the fire. She'd scavenged for all the dry wood in their vicinity, and the pile was getting small. She retrieved one of her shoes and tucked the pair together, out of Auggie's way.

She turned back to him, and saw him carefully picking up his razor. He'd washed his face and had prepared to shave, and she couldn't help but stop for a minute to watch him. Everything was meticulous, each movement precise. He was as mesmerising to watch now as he had been when she was just getting to know him. She watched him as he shaved with one hand, and used the other to feel where he'd been, and where he needed to go next, one hand always guiding the other. She watched him stop and slide his hand carefully along beside him for his coffee. She saw the look of peaceful contentment cross his half-shaved face, and she smiled, rearranging the things in the cooler so Auggie wouldn't wonder at her silence. He often seemed to know when she stopped to watch him. She knew it bothered him when others did it, but he never seemed to mind when she did it.

"You know," Auggie spoke up, "next week at this time, we will officially be married."

Annie stood and walked back over to him. "Thank goodness," she said. "It took us long enough."

"People have been waging bets on us since we were first teamed up."

"When you told me Eric said that, I nearly died," Annie said. "How were we so oblivious?"

"I'm blind," Auggie said with a shrug. "At least I have an excuse."

Annie made sure the razor was well away from his face when she gave him a little push. "Well, you know _everything_ any way, and you _still_ didn't know that they all figured we'd be hooked up."

Auggie finished his task and dipped the razor into the water, shaking it out. He turned to face her. "We were too stubborn, Walker. It took a lot of humbling on both our parts to get here."

"I'm grateful you worked so hard for me, Auggie. I'm so grateful that you got us here."

"You worked as hard."

"I had given up, Auggie. On everything. On us. On me. You never did."

Auggie smiled. He didn't need to go back there. He was happy to be in the here and now. And in the future. He was really happy to have a future with Annie. He was even looking forward to introducing her to his family. Especially his mother. Especially his father. His mother, always a mother, loved him unconditionally, wept for him when he wept, loved for him when he loved, would always be there to give him the shoulder he needed. There had been many times in his life where he and his father did not see eye to eye. And now, pun notwithstanding, he wanted to his father to finally be happy for Auggie's decision, and see eye to eye about his life, and about Annie. He'd wanted Auggie to be happy, so his father could feel better about Auggie's life, and for his own role as a father. Auggie knew there was a lot of deep water in their relationship, but he finally had something, some_one_, that he couldn't wait to bring to his father for approval. His father was a good man. Auggie wanted it all to be okay again.

He put the razor and his toiletries back in the bag and made sure the towel Annie had laid out was dry. Then he reached over and surprised Annie by pulling her towards him and down as he lay back on the ground. She cuddled into his side, making a contented sound.

"We just have to make it through the week," Auggie said.

"We've been in war-zones," Annie said. "And I'm more worried about this week."

Auggie smiled. "We got this. You and me. We can beat them all. And if they get too much, you and I get into that little blue Corvette that some handsome guy gave you with no strings attached, and we drive away from them with our phones off. We can get married anywhere. As long as we're together, this is going to happen. And I say, if we can get through what we've both been through, this will be easy. Surely family's easier to work with than heart disease and blindness and Russian prison." He squinted his eyes at her, in mock worry. "Right?"

She kissed him. "We can do it."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

They cooked sausages and small potatoes over the fire, enjoying as much of the late morning as was possible before the idea that they needed to head home made any serious headway with either of them.

Annie talked about the camping trips she had done as a child. Her father had been very serious about teaching his daughters how to survive in the outdoors. Auggie loved to listen to her tell her own stories. The more she shared with him, the more colourful her image became for him. The little tidbits of information, the stories from her childhood, every little detail that she shared made her more beautiful to him. He knew that while her father had disappointed her several times in her young life, he had given her the world in his own way. And as fractured as their family had become, they all still had those good memories, and Annie and Danielle had a lot of knowledge and practice under their belts.

"So, camping in Sweden," Auggie said, listening as Annie poured water on their fire, the embers hissing loudly as the steam rose. "There were some perks to that military brat lifestyle."

"Yeah, there were. It was tough, moving around a lot, but we did get to see a lot of different things growing up. So I know we were lucky in many ways. But then, I'm envious of you, Auggie. I'm envious of your home, one place, the whole time. Your parents are still together. You had such a big family, it would be so crazy, I know, but so much _home_, you know? I would have liked that, too. I would have liked to know where my home was. That there were lots of people there who would back me if I needed it. You got to be young, Auggie. You visited your grandparents and rode your bike to school. I think I would have liked all that, too."

Auggie thought about what moving around would do to a little girl. No wonder she and Danielle had become so attached to each other. No wonder the pain between them after they each felt betrayed by each other had been so terrible. Annie had become attached to things quickly as a grown up, until she came home from killing Henry Wilcox. She had retreated back to a kind of disconnection, as though she remembered she could not get close to something without it being taken away.

So many things came back to moments from one's past that were thought to be long passed. Life impacted life. A small moment could still hold it's course decades in the future. There was no way of erasing life, each part formed the person that stood today in their own body. Without each moment, that person would never have been formed. Someone else would stand in their place, maybe as wise, maybe as honest, maybe as beautiful, as jaded, as hurt, as troubled, as happy, but different.

He loved this Annie. He loved her laugh. He especially loved the laugh that burst from her in a torrent. He loved that she pressed her hand on his arm before she left him. He loved that she called him from wherever she was to tell him she wanted to just listen to him bring her home. He loved every part that made up this Annie, even the parts that had hurt him. It was all those things that had brought them here, right now, to this lake, to this life, to this week.

They would go home. They would greet family as family came. They would enjoy the time they had with them, they would show off the home, the love, the ring, the life they had. And then, when they had endured the week together, they would be joined in marriage, and the hard work would have been all worth it, and paid in full. It would be finally real.

And then, thought Auggie, they would leave all the cleaning up and the chaos control to Eric and Danielle. They would spend a night together in an undisclosed location, and then depart on a real honeymoon. Not anything connected to the Agency, or an op, or a drop. It was all them, planned together over Auggie's laptop in the early morning one month prior.

Of course they'd make it. Nothing had stopped them before. Not plane crashes, not dubious deaths, not power-hungry sociopaths, not double-agents with their mind on revenge. What was a little family gathering in comparison?

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

After the last trip from the campsite, where Annie did a thorough sweep, making sure they'd left nothing behind, she untied the guide rope. Auggie packed their things in the back of the SUV, carefully making sure everything was sitting right and nothing would spill or poke or flatten anything. Annie closed the hatch and Auggie headed to the passenger door.

"All in?" he asked, finding the door handle.

"Yup. We got everything. You'd never know we were here."

"Well, _I'd_ never know we were here," Auggie deadpanned. "And I was _here_."

Annie groaned, and Auggie gave her a quick grin, his lips turning up with his own sense of amusement. She shook her head and started the vehicle, backing it out to turn around and get back on the narrow side road.

Once they were on the way, they started talking about what Auggie had been doing at Langley for the past little while, with their computers being targeted for Wikileaks break ins. Auggie was trying to keep one step ahead of the hacks, and he'd set up a whole new system to re-route any unauthorised infringements to a dummy site which, in turn, would blow their identification cover and whereabouts. So far, they'd slowed down some of the illegal traffic trying to crack their codes, but it was nowhere near as safe as Auggie would have it. Joan had already had Auggie wipe her computer twice of malware just last week. He was tracing it back and had his tech crew chasing them down this weekend.

Annie had no patience with computers, and hated when she had to sit for hours using one. However, listening to Auggie talk about them was entirely different. He made data searches and torrent riders seem like its own exciting espionage, invisible to all but Auggie. He told her that breaking codes was like finding out how music was put together. She didn't really understand it, but Auggie did, and when he spoke about it, she could see how passionate he was about it. It was more than numbers and patterns for him.

"Don't the firewalls keep changing?" Annie asked.

"Oh, the whole thing is constantly being realarmed, but they're fast. They work fast. Passwords can be retrieved in seconds if you're running a hack programme."

"They're fast, Auggie, but you're faster."

"Could only be a matter of time," Auggie replied. "And I'm only running the DPD's tech. I can't cover everything at every second."

"Oh, I think we are all a little safer with you behind the keyboard," Annie replied.

"And Barber," Auggie added. "The man's a wizard."

"No wonder Jai tried to steal him from you," Annie said. "I'm glad he came back."

"He knows where the treats are," Auggie replied.

Annie chuckled, thinking about the chaos of Eric's desk, and how sometimes that chaos spilled into Auggie's territory. In the beginning, it had frustrated Auggie, always having to remind the other man to leave the chairs in the same places, and not to move anything on Auggie's desk. Over time, Eric had become mindful of Auggie's needs, but still liked to leave Auggie a gift of a chip bag or sandwich wrapper beside his keyboard, just for old time's sake. Auggie had grown accustomed to it, maybe he even kind of expected it. Annie had thought when she first met Eric that the man would be clueless to anything Auggie needed outside the computer world, but she'd been wrong. And now, she watched Eric pretend to be oblivious, but at the same time making sure that Auggie had everything he required. She knew they had a relationship that had worn into a comfortable kind of friendship with an illusion of annoyance floating above it to keep people from knowing how deep that friendship went. Annie was proud to call Eric a friend to both of them. She was proud of Auggie for letting it develop.

He spoke highly of Barber now, as well as Holman. He'd left the DPD tech in their care, and he wasn't worried a bit to do so. Auggie had learned to trust others instead of only himself, that was one aspect of his life the bomb had redirected. He didn't _have_ to do everything himself, he understood that teamwork was much more acceptable and often got better results than working alone.

He knew come tomorrow morning, he'd be back there with all new ideas. He already had been mulling three new plans of attack as he talked to Annie.

There had been a question, not once, but twice, if Auggie would return to the CIA after what it had cost him. He'd come close both times to walking away.

But every time he contemplated the idea, he knew it wasn't going to happen. Even one weekend away, and he was chomping at the bit to get the adrenaline pumping over the deadlines of time and space. He knew Annie felt the same. It wasn't a matter of them quitting the Agency anymore. It was a matter of figuring out how to work there together, and still have their own life outside, and Auggie was pretty proud of how well that part was working out. He had had so many concerns, they both had, after returning from their break away together, about how it would work. But the way Joan had taken Annie back under her wing, leaving Auggie with his tech crew and his other operatives, but still having her in the department had made it work. They were together and not together. Joan was better at this than they were, Auggie had to admit. They needed to be there. Joan needed them there. And that was all there was to it. They were CIA.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

They made three stops on the way home. Once for coffee. Once for a restroom. And once for a walk along what the sign claimed was a _scenic stroll along historical land, dotted with buildings from centuries past_. Annie told Auggie that there were some foundations and a refurbished looking barn, but the best thing to see was a field of sunflowers that a farmer had planted beyond the walking trail. Annie stopped as soon as they crested a hill, and Auggie stopped immediately, instinct mirroring her movement.

"Oh, Auggie," she exclaimed, and Auggie immediately recognised her reaction to something breathtaking.

"What? Tell me." He closed his eyes, a smile on his face, waiting to hear what she saw.

"Sunflowers. A field of them. Just a huge expanse of golden faces framed with golden flames, all looking in the same direction. And we're in the exact right spot to see them." She raised his arm and held his hand to the point where the field began just down beyond the next line of trees, and moved it in an arc, to give him an idea of the size.

"Wow. That's a lot of sunflowers," Auggie said, amazed. He remembered seeing pictures of fields like this, but he'd never actually seen one himself. He figured he still wasn't going to, technically, but standing in front of one with Annie was close enough for him. He saw everything through her eyes.

"It's beautiful, Auggie."

"I know," he said. "It is absolutely beautiful."


	29. Chapter 29

**I don't own Covert Affairs or its spectacular characters. I miss it more than ever. Not gonna get over it. **

Chapter Twenty-Nine

MONDAY

The day couldn't have been more like a Monday. Auggie spilled coffee on his lap. Eric Barber had brought a particularly loud bag of Doritos that Auggie could smell across the room. Joan was furious at an op gone badly with one of her teams and was short with everyone.

And then Annie came to Auggie's desk in the afternoon with the surprise news that Danielle was coming in to DC in the morning. She would stay with her mother, and Michael and the girls would arrive on Thursday.

"We knew it would start," Auggie said.

Annie leaned against his desk next to him. "I just was hoping it wouldn't start until at least Friday."

"Fat chance," retorted Auggie reaching out for her waist. "At least she's staying with your mother."

"Yes, they'll have plenty to go over together," Annie sighed.

"Focus, Annie. Wedding. Not their day. Ours."

"Right. You're right, Auggie." She put her arms over his shoulders and clasped them behind his neck.

"Annie?" Joan's voice appeared at the door. Annie dropped her hands but Auggie didn't as they both turned to face her. "I need you. Now. I need a translator to do a pick-up in Puerto Rico."

"Joan! I told you I didn't want to go anywhere this week. I can't go."

"You'll be back before the morning. Auggie can handle anything that needs handling tonight. I'll brief you in my office."

Annie turned back to Auggie. "I'm sorry, Auggie. I told her I wasn't leaving American soil this week."

Auggie shook his head. "We'll survive. We always do. It's just one day. We're not planning the Academy Awards of weddings. It's okay. Go, make Joan happy, and come home and I'll make sure you're reimbursed for missing one night with me."

Annie smiled and looked at her husband-to-be with pride. He always said the right thing, whether good or bad. This was good. She leaned down and kissed him, her hand on his chest alerting him to her approach.

"I'll stop before I have to go," she said, giving his chest a little push as she stood back up and walked out, looking back once before heading out the door to Joan's office.

The day hadn't gotten much better from then on. By the time he left the office at six, he was frustrated by nearly everything around him, people included. He knew he couldn't deal with public transit or the shuttle or any kind of travel that involved anything but sitting with his eyes closed, alone. So he called a cab to take him directly home, and made sure to relay the message to the driver that he would need to be assisted to the cab.

The ride home was pretty much what he'd hoped for, and when he finally reached the Gladstone House, he tipped the driver for letting him have his space.

The welcome smell of the kitchen relaxed him. It had had that kitchen smell before they moved in, and Annie had been trying her hand at cooking and baking, if only to assure Auggie that she wasn't going to be hopeless as a wife. He had assured her that he would be equally as hopeless as a husband, and they both took turns making meals. Annie was clearly the better cook, Auggie thought, still detecting the smell of the croissants she had made that morning.

The house was big without her there. His apartment had been the right size for him to not feel lost and overwhelmed when there was no-one there. But though this house felt so big, it didn't feel lonely, because everything of Annie was there. Her scent, her clothes, her favourite furniture, her toothbrush and hairbrush, and all those creams and shampoos. He could feel her presence within the walls in such a short period of them being there. But then, he'd always had that with her. It was how he knew that it was something special.

He did some work on his laptop, he checked his emails, and finally cleaned out the inbox. He put on an album and ate some microwaved lasagne. He wondered what it was that had kept him so occupied before he met Annie. Then he remembered: work. He'd buried himself in work.

He definitely didn't do that now. Joan was right, Annie had taken him well out of his comfort zone and he was so glad she had. Now, instead of nights and weekends spent in his office, living off coffee and pills and energy drinks and half-eaten sandwiches, he was going camping and playing Frisbee in his yard. A woman did change a man. At least, Auggie was sold on that. And it was for the better. He felt better. He didn't have those headaches like he used to, and when he did, Annie made sure he never pushed himself to make them worse. He even spent more time outside, which was something he had missed. He'd always spent so much time outside in his youth. Now, it was almost too much effort, too much work, too much preparation to do it on his own. Not with Annie. She opened that world back up for him, too. It was quite ridiculous, thought Auggie, as he read the label on a container in their breadbox (of course they'd had to have a breadbox, some things were mandatory) that said _brownies_, how many things had improved. Things he thought he had been okay with as they were.

He was half asleep on the sofa when his phone rang. It took him a minute to realise what it was and where it was located, but he smiled as he answered.

"I'm on my way," Annie said. "Just in the air now. You wannna fly with me for a while?"

"You bet," Auggie replied, getting up and putting on another LP to keep them both company.

They talked until Annie's phone beeped a warning that it was close to dying, and then they reluctantly finished their call, with Auggie heading to the empty bed, knowing she would be there in the morning.

TUESDAY

"They want someone to meet them who won't track them, trace them, otherwise know anything about them," Joan was saying. "But they have information, and they don't trust any of us."

"So?" said Auggie. "What can we do about it? They've already denounced the CIA. The FBI, the UN. I think it's a hoax. If they have something, why tell everyone they have it and then refused to tell anyone."

"Because we're not _supposed_ to know about it," Joan said. "We're all suspecting each other and not one of us has a lead. Except I got a tip off this morning. And you, Auggie, are going to be the man to get the intel."

Auggie groaned. "Why me?" he asked. He hated the paranoid conspiracy theorists and their constant accusations, some of which were valid, most of which were absurd.

"Because, as usual, no-one suspects a blind guy. Don't give me that look, we use everything we can to our advantage here. They expect you can't trace where you meet, or recognise them in a line-up—"

"They'd be right on that one," Auggie sighed.

"Auggie, I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you were our only hope to get this. Beside, I thought you liked going in the field."

"This isn't really in the field, Joan. This is me, going down town to get some crazy intel from an overactive imagination and an inflated sense of drama."

"This wasn't a matter of a question," Joan stated, and Auggie knew his battle was lost.

He found the chair in front of her desk with his laser cane and sat down. "Who am I supposed to be working for?" he asked, resigned.

"That's better," Joan replied, and handed him the dossier for him to scan into his computer before moving behind her desk to sit and answer his questions.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Auggie was led to a table in a quiet area of the Vietnamese restaurant he'd been sent to to meet his mark. He sat, folding his cane and waving away a menu, asking for a pot of oolong tea. He settled back in his chair to wait.

There were maybe four other patrons in the place. Unless there were single people making no sound, as there could well be, and beyond Auggie's senses.

An approach on his left, too fast to be his meet, and the sound of china clinking, alerted him to the tea. He let her pour the tea, thanking her. She had barely spoken, her speed in service was her obvious goal, and Auggie appreciated it as she hurried off to refill others' cups or attend to the most likely sixteen things she had going on in the kitchen. He sipped his tea, relishing it's bitter but smooth taste, thinking on different days when he had tasted this tea.

He felt another presence huddle up to him, near the table. He raised his face. He didn't want to appear too alert. This man needed to think Auggie didn't have the means or the capability to know exactly who he was or where he came from.

"Hello?" he asked. "Is someone there?"

"Do you need help with the menu?" asked the voice.

"Yeah, that would be great," Auggie said, his line memorised and said through gritted teeth.

"May I join you here?"

"Please," Auggie said, motioning to sit.

"Who sent you?" said the voice.

"Are we alone?" Auggie asked.

"Yes. Who are you."

"You set up a meet with my boss. She is a private citizen. I don't have your name, you don't get hers. Not until you front the intel."

"I'm probably being followed," said the voice. "How do you know you weren't followed?"

"I don't," said Auggie. "But who's gonna follow me? Do I look suspicious to you?"

"Are you bugged?"

Auggie was starting to inwardly curse Joan for sending him out here.

"No, I'm not bugged. Why would I be bugged? You were only supposed to give me the intel, I don't want to have a conversation for reference points. Do you have it?"

"I don't trust computers," said the voice. "I have one that has no connections. I gutted most of the memory chips. But I put everything I have on this. And another two, which I buried."

Auggie put his hand out on the table, and the other man pushed a thumb-drive against it before snatching his arm back.

Auggie's fingers slid over the device and he clutched it in his hand.

"How do I reach you?" he asked.

"I don't use phones," said the voice. "Not since they bugged that whole building."

"They? They who?"

There was a momentary silence. "I can't give any other info. What I have, is all in there."

And with that, the man's chair scraped back and Auggie felt the air shift as the man swiftly passed by him. The bells on the door jangled and Auggie leaned forward, closing his eyes, rubbing his thumb over the USB memory drive. That was done. He marvelled at the effort these people took to keep under the wire, when most of them wouldn't be any more under surveillance than a four-year-old goat.

He finished the tea. No need to rush out. He left a tip and headed back to the bus-stop with plenty of time to spare. While he waited, he texted Joan. It was all routine.

And still, Auggie thought, as the bus approached and he was given way to board first, he was out of the office, it was a nice day, and he was doing what Annie did, only closer to home, and in the same language. Kind of. He was a spy, and he was still covert, and this was still a mission.

Joan was in a meeting when he got back. He put the thumb-drive in a sealed envelope and put it in the care of her assistant, and he headed back to his office to do his report. He was grateful to Barber for the inane story of a game plotline, though once again, he had trouble at first distinguishing if it had really happened, or if it was just in the game. Once he had it straight, it just sort of set the background for his obligatory report of the day's events.

Though, what if there _was_ something on there? How would they find their source again? Auggie knew he wasn't supposed to have actually tracked the man, but he felt like he'd lost him. He would have done more. But Joan had specifically said there was to be nothing more because their contact would never come forward again, and Auggie had to trust Joan's intuition.

Annie checked in with him as he was pondering all this. He felt her subconsciously before he heard her, being lost in his thoughts. He shook himself out of it and realised someone was there, just as she said his name.

He took his headphones off and dropped them around his neck, turning to her.

"Hey," he said, a smile instantly lighting up his face.

"You made it," she said, standing close.

"I'm quite the spy," he said. "What time is it?" He simultaneously flipped up the crystal of his watch as he asked.

"I'm just heading out," Annie said. "I have to meet Danielle. She promised me she'd come alone, and that I didn't have to go over to mum's house yet."

"You'll have to face the music."

"And when are your brothers and parents coming?" Annie asked, leaning toward him, her hand pressing on his.

He closed his eyes, pressing his lips together. She had him there.

"We can do this," Annie said. "We'll be through it in a week and long out of their range."

Auggie smiled again as she leaned forward and pressed her forehead on his for a moment.

"We can do this," she whispered again and he nodded.

"I may bring her home with me. Is that okay?"

"Annie, she's family. I love her, too. Of course she can come, she's welcome anytime. You know that."

"I know. But the house... is ours. It's only right that we both—"

He raised his hand to her cheek. "Annie. She's your sister. She has a place with us." He felt her nod under his hand, his forehead rocking along with hers.

"Bring her home," he said.

"Okay, okay. I'll see you at home in a while." Annie stood up, patted his arm once, and headed toward the door.

"Yes, you will," Auggie replied, before hearing her footsteps move out of his headquarters. He knew Annie was starting to feel overwhelmed with the idea of so much family in one place at one time. He was glad it was Danielle who would be the first to arrive. Maybe she could get Annie's feet back under her. Auggie had noticed Annie wasn't as firm about things lately, and Auggie was sure she just needed to get everything back to normal after this and she'd be feistier. Asking his permission to have Danielle over was just plain silly, and he meant to tell her so again later.

She'd slept for only a few hours before heading in to Langley with Auggie, and Auggie hoped she could catch a nap before she met up with Danielle, but it didn't happen. The last thing either of them needed was to push themselves to the limits for something that would be over in a few hours. Maybe she looked tired, and maybe Danielle would be able to see it. He heard it in her voice, or in the silence she kept.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

They were there when Auggie got home. He'd stayed longer than he'd intended in the office, and felt badly he hadn't been home to welcome Danielle back. He could have at least opened a bottle of wine. Instead, he was coming in the door late again.

"Oh, Auggie!" Danielle said, moving to him, the glass of wine already in her hand. She touched his shoulder and then they embraced while she kept the wine held away from them.

"Hi, Danielle! Glad you're back, does it look more lived in here now?" He stepped back to take off his suit jacket, which Annie took from his hand. She picked his hand up and cupped a wine glass into it. He sent her a smile and nodded, moving over to the alcove next to the stairs, where he set the glass, and folded his cane. He turned back to them, lifting his nose and sniffing.

"It smells so good in here. I'd have known Danielle was here even if she'd said nothing."

"We _are_ getting better," Annie told her sister. "We both can make at least three decent meals, so that leaves one night a week to eat out."

"I like it," Danielle said. "It's... really you both here. I mean, I see the blending of the styles and I really like it. It's kind of modern-cosy."

"That's us," Auggie said. "To modern-cosy!" He raised his glass, and one of them stepped toward him and clinked it.

"To modern-cosy!" the sisters both said, and Annie stepped and linked her fiancé's arm with her own, turning him toward the kitchen, and the three of them slowly wandered to the island.

"It's so beautiful," Danielle said, rubbing her hand on the countertop of the island. "I'm so glad you found this place and took the chance." She smiled. "I think you're going to be so happy here."

"I know we are," Annie said.

WEDNESDAY

"Annie?" Auggie whispered.

"Hmmmmpph," she mumbled into her pillow.

"Come on, one more day, Walker." Auggie was working straight through until Friday, but Annie would have the two days before her wedding to do whatever she needed to do.

"Can't I call in?" she groaned.

He said nothing. He knew she would make her own mind up.

Moments later, her heard her moving, sliding off the bed, her feet padding across the floor. He went back downstairs to pour her coffee.

Twenty minutes later, she was sitting at the island, coffee in hands, elbows on the counter.

"Thank you, Auggie," she said in a happier voice, one he recognised from earlier times.

"You're staying on D.C. soil today, Walker. I happen to know this."

"You do, do you?"

Auggie shrugged and gave her a half-wink. "I may have had some clout in the bigger decisions there." He gave her that grin and her hand covered his.

"You're one of a kind," she said.

He nodded. "I think that's a given," he said. "And you're one in a million. And you're all mine. Or you will be in three days."

She giggled, and squeezed his hand below hers. "I know, Babe. I'm counting the minutes."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Annie stopped into see Auggie three times, and he went to her office twice that day. Auggie's day was good, three successful operations completed and a cracked code for an intercepted message. Joan said nothing about the information on the thumb drive he'd brought back the day before and Auggie didn't ask. He didn't want Joan to think he was gloating if it was pure fantasy on there.

Annie had fielded three calls from Danielle and two from her mother. She talked to the florist she hadn't wanted to involve, though she'd managed the bare minimum arrangements. She translated five documents and interviewed a witness to a botched document exchange. Auggie's visits were greatly appreciated. When Joan found Annie in Auggie's office the final time, she sent them both home. They both felt a bit guilty, but Annie assured Auggie that Joan had been smiling at them when they left, and Auggie assured Annie he could hear it when she'd said goodbye.

They stopped and picked up Cantonese food and then hid out in the Gladstone house, not answering phones for a few hours, just relaxing, eating, and having their own time.

"Danielle and my mother are coming to help tomorrow," Annie said. "I told them there's to be nothing moved in this house, they are to stick to the yard."

Auggie poked at the rice with his chopsticks, feeling how much was left in the cardboard container. "Well, the weather is supposed to be really nice. And it's not as hot as it was, so it's all going to be fine. I won't go out there. It gives me an excuse to stay out of the way. Did you rent chairs?"

"I only rented a dozen."

"That's good. We don't want them getting too comfortable," Auggie joked.

"Your family is coming in at the same time?" Annie asked, picking through her noodles.

Auggie rubbed at his eyes, as if talking about them wore him out as much as being surrounded by them did. He put the carton down.

"My parents and two of my brothers will be arriving together. The other two are coming in a bit later."

"Okay," Annie said. "Which ones? I'm already panicking."

Auggie sat back in the seat, turning towards her, as if he were watching her. "Okay, a brief lesson in brothers," he began. "You may need to take notes."

He heard Annie putting down the remnants of her meal, making the area clear so she could pull her feet up and wrap her arms around her knees and get comfortable. Auggie put his hand out and she took it in hers, as she always did.

"Okay, my oldest brother is Callum. He's in web design. He's married to Laine, and they have two boys, Tanner, and Seanie. He'll be coming in with Andrew, the next eldest. Andrew is an artist. He's quite successful; he's been doing a lot of stuff for book covers and music albums, apparently. Which is good, because they have a son, and they're expecting again, says my mother. Their son is named..." Auggie had to think. "Nicholas. Phew, for a minute I couldn't remember. My dad, half the time, just called us all _boy_. With four of us, he was never sure which one of us he was addressing. Anyway, Nicholas, and a new one on the way. How're we doing?"

"So far, so good. Following you," she said, giving his hand another squeeze.

"Right, good. Okay, next up is Michael. He's a landscaper. He's married to Keri, and he has a daughter, Ayla, from a previous marriage. Her name was Shayna. They divorced just before I went to Iraq, and she's still very much a part of Ayla's life and everything's pretty cool, from what I gather."

"Tell me about Toby," Annie said.

"Right. My brother Toby," Auggie said.

"Did you tell Neighbour Toby that your brother is a Toby, too?"

"I did. He was more interested that my name was weird," Auggie laughed. "Okay, my brother Toby. He's a carpenter. He's a total adventurer. And a big fan of gaming. He's the one that would kind of save me from the other two. Until I got so good at wrestling at high school that they left me alone. They were almost grown men by then, maybe they'd smartened up."

"Why were they so mean?"

"Only because I was the end of the line. If there was another one, I probably would have joined them."

"No, you wouldn't have," Annie said. "You're too kind."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have been if there had been another one."

"But there wasn't. You're the baby."

Auggie smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I'm like a collective of all four of them."

"They were probably all jealous. You clearly had it all. You were probably the favourite."

"Favourite? They were horrible."

Annie looked at him. He would have been so loved by them all. He would have been protected if anyone outside the circle threatened the kind-hearted youngest Anderson child. She bet they all railed and rallied when he was injured in Tikrit. She bet there had been shit to pay by all of them. She smiled at him lovingly, knowing that there was a bond that, no matter what, wouldn't be broken between brothers. He was who he was because they all had had a hand in his making. She couldn't wait to watch them together and learn more about whom her husband-to-be was when they knew him best.

"Tobes and I were always close. We got closer when we were both still in high school together. Andrew went to art school, and Cal went to university and we just ended up as a pretty good team."

"And you told him about the Agency?"

"I tried for the longest time to keep it from him. But I knew I needed an accomplice to keep it from everyone else in the family."

"You never told them?"

Auggie gave the slightest of shrugs and took a drink of his wine.

"And they _still_ don't know?"

Auggie sighed. "Sometimes I suspect they suspect," he said. "And then I'll have conversations and I totally think they're still unaware. In the dark, so to speak."

"They didn't ask about the tattoo?" Annie knew they all would have seen it, when he was home recuperating from his injuries.

"They know I was in a Special Forces unit. They don't ever suspect it's _the_ Special Forces Unit, and that I am in it because I am CIA. Again, if my Dad or any of them ever really suspected, I don't think they'd share that, especially with my mother."

Annie shook her head. He was so open and yet so secretive. He had kept things from so many people, including her. She wanted him to be a good spy, to know how to keep secrets and lie with the best of them, but she also wanted to bring the shield down that he'd built up over himself against the people closest to him.

"Well, I didn't figure I'd ever tell my own mother," Annie said. "And I'm glad I did now. I don't like lying to her, no matter how frustrated I feel about her."

She looked at Auggie's expression. He knew what she meant. And he knew he still had that choice to make. She didn't push him any further. "So does Toby have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? Either or?"

Auggie shrugged, shaking his head. "Girlfriend. I don't know. He has dated an Emily, and Suzana, a Jen, a Selina, and a Sharisa over the past few years."

"Really?"

"I may have made those names up," said Auggie. "But that's the sentiment. I stopped keeping track after a while. There _was_ an Emily, and a Suzana, though."

"Yup, you're brothers," Annie said, matter-of-factly.

Auggie scowled at her. "I'm a one-woman man. Always have been. I just hadn't found the one woman I wanted to be with, until I did, and couldn't have her."

"Well, then you got me instead," teased Annie, and Auggie started to protest until she leaned over and stopped his words with a kiss, and he knew she was kidding.

"You're the one," he said, kissing her back.

"We should take this party upstairs," Annie said, sliding across the cushion to stand, keeping Auggie's hand in hers. She gave it a tug and he stood, grinning.

"Shouldn't we get this?" he asked, waving his hand to their take-out boxes on the table.

"Later, later," Annie said, leading him to the stairs.


	30. Chapter 30

**Does Finlaure13 own Covert Affairs by now? Well, I like to think I do, but, no, I don't, because I get no money, no producers, no network to air it. Which I find very sad. So to the real owners of CA, you had all these things, you should have stuck with it better.**

Chapter Thirty

THURSDAY

"I am _so_ glad I'm heading into the office today," Auggie said, buttoning up his vest and then turning and following the wall back to the doorway of the bedroom. Annie was sitting on the edge of the bed, ready to follow him downstairs.

"I'm rethinking my two days off," she replied as she stood up, stretching.

"Oh, you'll have fun," Auggie said, following the guide of the wall to the stairs and down. "You think you won't right now, but you will."

"And how do you know this?"

"I know everything," Auggie quipped.

"Of course, how could I forget that?" Annie groaned as Auggie laughed, reaching the bottom step. He turned, catching her in his arms as she made to step from the bottom stair, giving her a quick kiss and stroking her hair, nearly meeting her eyes with his own.

"It won't be as bad as you're expecting," he said calmly. "We only have a couple of days of this. Really. And it's not going to be anything bigger than how we want it. It's too late for them to mess it up for us now. We are having it how we want it."

"Will you be able to get off at a decent hour?" Annie asked him as they moved to the kitchen.

"Which translates to _will I please come home and rescue you in case you are in trouble_. Yes, I will come home as soon as possible. I'll throw everything else at Holman."

Annie smiled. "I'll make it worth your while."

Auggie raised an eyebrow. "Well, in that case, I may leave a bit early."

"Just remember my mother and sister will be here when you get here," Annie said, patting him on the chest.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"Did you get anything out of that thumb drive?" Auggie asked Joan as he delivered a report of a closed operation from that morning.

"Nothing I can comment on," Joan said.

"Joan, I got your intel..."

"And it's still above your clearance," Joan told him.

Auggie rolled his eyes.

"I promise you, Auggie, as soon as I can, you'll know everything I do."

"It can't be _that_ crucial," he said.

"That's all I can tell you right now. Now, go, before I have to have you escorted out."

Auggie grinned a tiny bit. He raised up his hands. "Okay, okay. I'm going." He turned, pointing the laser cane toward the doorway, and sticking the earpiece back in his ear. He left the office and walked down the ramp to the bullpen, wondering what all the secrecy could possibly be about. This man was clearly paranoid, surely the intel would prove that. Except, it was starting to look to Auggie like it did the opposite.

As soon as he stepped back into the office, Barber and Holman stopped talking.

"Yeah," Eric said, seeing the frustration on Auggie's face. "She wouldn't tell me, either, and I was the one who broke the encryption."

"You?"

"Yeah. And they wouldn't let me even read it. I was hustled out of there faster than you could say _conspiracy theory_."

"Damn, what is it all about?" Auggie wondered, finding his chair and sliding into it.

"I don't get why you're not in the loop."

Auggie turned his head slightly toward Barber. "Don't remind me. I mean, I went and got the intel. Shit. I knew I should have gotten more information from him. I wish I'd had him tailed. Am I slipping? I should have put you out there to follow him. I thought he was a crackpot, though," he rationalised to himself. "I got a feeling..." Auggie took a deep breath. "It doesn't add up."

"Do you want me to do some digging?" Eric asked.

Auggie thought for a moment and then scowled. "No. Joan will absolutely shut us down with no-where to hide. I have to trust she'll let me in when it gets the clear, and it will, because it's all fantasy, the whole thing."

"Maybe... maybe you're just stressed about the wedding," Eric tried. "Maybe it's nothing and it's blown out of proportion."

Auggie glared in Barber's direction. "Are you saying I'm freaking out?"

"No, no, of course not, Auggie. Well, maybe a little bit. Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine."

Auggie was confused. "What? Which will be fine."

"The wedding?" Barber said, hoping he chose right. He wasn't sure anymore either.

"Of course the wedding will be fine. It will be because I have my future mother and sister-in-law at my house right now, putting up an obstacle course and enough flowers to dizzy a man, as well as saying god-knows-what to Annie and making her crazy. It's all fine."

"Oh. Right. Yeah, that sounds... good, Auggie."

Auggie turned fully toward his friend and Best Man. "I'm sorry, Man. I don't know where that came from. It's going to be fine. Annie and I set up boundaries. It's too late to go overboard. I hope."

"Look, Dude, I can handle this stuff here, I can get Holman to look over that other code later, and we've got Hogan down looking through that hard drive we brought in this morning. Why don't you go home and check on Annie?"

Auggie thought about the work he had for the day. Nothing was crucial to time, and anything that came up could be taken care of by Eric.

"Yeah. I think you may have the idea there," he said. "Maybe I will."

"Go. Have some wine. Supervise the construction. Check in with Annie. You're on the same page. It's all yours, Dude. I'll see you tomorrow, and tomorrow night I'll get you so liquored that it won't matter what they do to your yard."

"You just mean I'll fall down by that point whether I trip over something they moved or not,"  
Auggie remarked.

"Pretty much."

Auggie smiled for the first time since the morning. Clearly he'd made the right choice in his Best Man with Eric. The man who had infuriated him at the beginning had become his friend. He wasn't sure when it had happened along the way, but Barber had become a trusted confident and a good and caring soul to him.

"Okay," he said, and for a moment, Barber was surprised that Auggie had agreed so easily.

"You found the right woman, Auggie. That's all that matters."

Auggie stopped for a moment from gathering his things. Then he smiled at his friend. "Thanks, Eric."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"You're home early," Annie said as Auggie appeared on the deck of the side verandah. She hurried over to him to embrace him and give him a kiss.

"I couldn't stand being away from you any longer," Auggie said. He lifted his eyes toward the yard. "What have they done here?"

"Don't go anywhere without your cane," Annie advised him. "It's not really set up yet, either. I told them to at least leave it until tomorrow. Imagine if it rained or something."

"It will still be perfect, even if it does," Auggie said, turning to her, putting his hand on her cheek.

Annie smiled. He was perfect to her at this very moment. He was all she needed. Everything would be fine; it was all worth it because he stood there beside her.

"Come on," she said. "Can you handle three Walker women at the same time?"

He grinned cheekily. "I'll give it a soldier's go," he said, and took her elbow.

It wasn't nearly as bad as either of them had projected. Instead, Auggie was thrilled to hear stories of his bride-to-be's childhood, her stubbornness, the antics she and Danielle had come up with, much to the despair of their parents. He mostly sat with a huge smile plastered on his face as the women reminisced and told tales, often forgetting he was there. Annie brought him a beer and told him that her mother and sister were going to make supper for them.

"What did we do to deserve this fine treatment?" Auggie said.

"I think everything has been forgiven."

"Cakes, flowers, and wedding dresses seem to have that effect on your folk," Auggie said, and Annie rolled her eyes and swatted him lightly.

When they were done sprucing up the yard, Annie's mother and sister started off in the kitchen. They both appreciated the structure and common sense of the kitchen layout, and Annie's mother was intrigued by the tactile bumps and other devices that assisted Auggie in his kitchen.

Auggie had noticed a tiny change in Annie's mother the longer he was around her. She had started out cold, with something like a hidden interest bubbling underneath, toward her daughter. The same woman as Annie had described to him. And yet, he had seen more there. He knew Annie hadn't come by her smile and her strength by mere chance. Now, with the addition of Danielle, who just took over and didn't give awkward moments a chance to even sprout, their mother came close to forgetting the long history between them and just be the mother that raised two strong, beautiful women. There was no CIA, no anger, no hiding, no secrets in that house for now.

There were some glorious, spicy smells, though. Auggie's mouth watered and his stomach rumbled as they worked away in the kitchen, their laughter and joking continuing from outside. They chased Annie out of the kitchen several times and she perched on the sofa beside Auggie, half leaning over the back of it to watch them. Auggie loved it. He loved it for her. She'd been under too much stress. Again. She needed her family, he knew she needed her family. She just needed them in the right way, and so far, they'd stepped up and done just that.

"So, why won't you tell us where you're going?" Danielle asked. "I mean, it's not like we're going to follow you, but it would be nice to know what part of the world you're in."

"I'll send postcards," Annie said.

"You'll Skype with us, little sister," Danielle instructed. "I need details. And _absolutely no plane crashes this time_."

"What plane crashes?" asked Annie's mother.

Danielle looked at Annie with an embarrassed look of shock and laughter rolled into one.

"No plane crashes," she said. "It was just a scare... one time... a long time back."

Annie knew her mother didn't let that one roll off so easily, but to her credit, she said nothing more about it. Instead, she smiled at Annie and Auggie.

"Danielle, let the couple have their secrets. We'll know soon enough. We will have pictures to look at and stories to hear. Right?"

Annie looked puzzled, but Auggie answered for her. "Definitely. You guys will get the stories."

"Yes. We promise."

Danielle eyed Annie, who just smiled.

"And the postcards," Auggie added, when no-one had said anything more and he didn't catch the glances.

Annie squeezed his hand, and he waited until someone changed the topic, not knowing what was happening between the others. Danielle appeared at his right, and picked up his hand and placed in it a beer bottle. He smiled up at her, and she patted his shoulder.

"You guys deserve this," she said, before returning to the kitchen.

"Don't you love their house, Mum?" she asked her mother as she picked up her paring knife again.

"It's absolutely beautiful. Not too small in case you guys have a family. Not too big, either."

"She's hinting she wants more grandchildren," Danielle clarified.

"And that's you hinting about nieces and nephews," Annie said.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"We're taking it as it comes," Annie said. That was a topic that was far to laden with layers to discuss right now with anyone but Auggie.

"You'd be great parents," Danielle added.

"Well, you should see Auggie play Frisbee with the neighbour's kid," Annie said with a grin, and then told them both about Auggie's new little friend.

"Nothing surprises me about you anymore, Auggie," Danielle said.

"Well, I'm not really very good," he said with a grin. "So don't be too impressed. I play about as well as any blind guy."

"Auggie, frankly, I don't know any blind guys who actually play Frisbee, so yes, I'd say I'm impressed." Danielle spoke lightly, but she meant every word.

"Ughh, gaw, Danielle, when is this food going to be ready?" Annie begged. "You're killing us over here."

"All good things come to those who wait," retorted Danielle. "Which you two should know by now."

"I feel like we're being roasted," Annie said.

"I hope _something_'s being roasted," Auggie said, squeezing his eyes shut and sniffing the aroma from the kitchen.

"Are they always like this?" Mrs. Walker asked her eldest daughter.

"As far as I can tell," Danielle said, slicing an apple for their dessert.

"Maybe I should go get a shower and try to make it to supper without eating my own arm," Auggie said, getting to his feet.

"I'm coming with you," Annie said, hurrying behind him up the stairs. They both missed the look Danielle shot her mother.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

FRIDAY

The work day barely registered with Auggie. He threw himself into his work, decoding encryptions mindlessly, but couldn't recall any distinction from one moment to the next one. Eric brought him coffee, and then a smoothie, and then a sandwich. Joan sent him home early. She placed her hand on his arm as he turned to go.

"Auggie, congratulations. I'm so happy for you and Annie."

Auggie smiled. "It was you."

"Me? Auggie, I only gave you an operative."

"Joan, you gave me Annie. You told me you put us together on with a purpose. And you kept us together, even when we didn't want to be together. You saw what we didn't."

"How do you think I've gotten where I am? I always have to stay one step ahead of everyone. And you, my dear Auggie, are as transparent to me as a glass of water. Maybe no-one else, but you never fool me.

"You're special to me, Auggie. I don't tell many people that. Especially people I work with. I'm glad, after all we've been through, that you're here. On my team."

"Motherhood has made you a bit mushy," Auggie said. He didn't mind teasing her a little. As she said, they had been through a lot together over the years. She had never failed him. Even when he thought she had, she had stayed true to him as a friend and as a boss.

"You're still coming, right?" he asked when she hadn't replied.

"Wouldn't miss it," Joan said.

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

Instead of going to the airport and being in the middle of so much confusion, Annie and Auggie simply stayed home for the afternoon. They would all meet for a reception supper in the dining hall of the hotel where the Andersons were staying. It was Auggie's parents' treat to the couple, and to Annie's family.

Auggie was nervous about being around his entire family at once. It still felt strange to be blind among his family. It wasn't a world he was used to, since he was around them so little. In the life he'd had with them, he was fully sighted, fully functioning, and no-one acted strange around him.

Annie was nervous to meet Auggie's family. It overwhelmed her that there were so many. She was used to it just being a small enough family to fit around a supper table. She'd talked to Auggie's mother on the phone and Facetimed with her, but she'd never met any of them. She loved their son and brother so much; she didn't want to disappoint them.

At six o'clock, they stood just outside the dining room, gathering their inner calm, knowing they were there together, their strength travelling through the connection they shared. Auggie's hand on Annie's elbow. Annie touched that hand, holding hers over it for a moment.

"Here we go," she said.

"I'm ready," replied Auggie.

They marched forward, and the tables seemed to stand up and swell them in like a wave. Hands, arms, hugging, holding, kisses, hands clutching, shaking. Voices, familiar voices without faces. Smiling faces, Danielle's face supportive, holding her sister's hand by virtue of her being there. Annie and Auggie let it roll over them, their gratitude for the love coming in apparent, though each was as confused by the moment as the other. Annie's hand returned to touch his, and he never had to search for her elbow when he had let go to hug or shake a hand.

Auggie's mother took a full look at her beautiful daughter-in-law-to –be, and embraced her. "Hello at last," she said.

Annie felt a love and strength in the woman that nearly took her breath away. This woman had seen a lot, had taken a lot, and had borne much. Her joy at having another daughter in her brood was apparent on her face. Her absolute adoration of her son was also very obvious, and it extended to Annie.

"He loves you," she told Annie. "I've never heard him speak of anyone so strongly. Not ever. And even with all his secrets, his love for you was never hidden, Annie. We never talked enough lately, but we heard it loud and clear." She looked at all her sons. "They're a bit overwhelming, but you'll get through it," she said with a confident smile.

Auggie felt a hand clap on his shoulder.

"Dad," he said.

"August."

Auggie could hear something like pride and happiness in his father's voice as he spoke.

"You sure picked a rose, Son. Not sure how you managed that, given your circumstances, but I'm impressed."

"Thanks, Dad." Auggie couldn't help but smile, and he decided to bridge some of the space between them and leaned forward to embrace his father.

"I haven't always agreed with your choices, August. But this time, I think you're definitely doing the right thing."

"That means a lot, Dad. It does. It's finally all okay now."

"I'm glad," said his father. "It's all I ever wanted for you, was for it to be all right."

"I know."

His father clapped his hand on Auggie's shoulder, and the moment passed over them both. Auggie wanted it to not only be okay, he wanted his father to be proud of him again. He wanted his father to see the home he'd made with Annie, and the good things he'd become with her. He didn't realise his father had never stopped being proud of him, had wept with pride for him. If Auggie had known this, he might have understood his father more.

Annie was seated to Auggie's right, and she kept a low running commentary on the layout of the table, the seating arrangements, and how envious she was of his sister-in-law's hair, and the size and state of his nieces and nephews.

When she needed to pass some pertinent information to him that struck her as funny or otherwise entertaining, she'd lean in, and, kissing his cheek or touching his hair, she'd whisper it as if it was instructions on locating his silverware. He had to keep from laughing out loud, but everyone could see that the two were entertaining themselves just fine. Annie was stepping into Auggie's blindness with him so that he wouldn't be left alone in a moment that was almost entirely visual. Auggie wasn't sure if it was something intentional that she was doing, or if it just _happened_, the way everything had just _happened_ with Annie.

The children, who all begged out of their seats before anyone was near finishing a plate or a glass of wine, had moved off to the other side of the room, still within the doors of the private dining area. The Anderson kids eagerly interrogated their new in-laws. Tanner and Seanie were close in age to Chloe and Katia, and after the initial awkwardness, seemed to be getting along just fine.

They ate and drank, getting to know one another. Annie took notice that her mother seemed to be enjoying herself, chatting with Auggie's mother. She was an outgoing woman, like Danielle, and she loved to talk about anything and everything that was the going topic. Annie sat and watched her mother, seeing her again as the woman that made the best of their nomadic lives as they were growing up. Seeing her as a woman with her own life, a woman that had given so many parts of herself to her daughters. She was glad Auggie had been insistent on Annie forgiving her mother and letting the same thing happen in return. She was glad her mother was going to be there tomorrow. She looked over at Danielle, who smiled at her, that big sister smile that said that everything was right with the world and it would all be okay.

"It's going much better than I had anticipated," Auggie said.

"They seem to get along," Annie said. "No-one's told us we're making a horrible mistake. The kids aren't screaming."

"Nobody's given you pity glances?"

"Danielle gave me some envy glances. She thinks you're a catch."

"She does, huh?"

"No pity, Hun. Everyone is happy for both of us."

F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13F13

"That doesn't sound wild at all," Auggie said to Annie as he pulled a t-shirt over his head. "There'd better be booze, Annie, or it's not a proper bachelorette."

"There are about six bottles of wine down there, and Danielle has snacks. I'm still full from that meal. Besides, I don't want to be hung-over tomorrow. I want to be sober and remember every beautiful thing."

"I don't plan on drinking much, either. I'll leave that to the kids," Auggie said with a grin.

"Let loose, Hun. Did I get you that t-shirt?"

He felt the front of it as if to make sure. "Yes. You have a habit of finding me soft t-shirts. I think it's because you always steal them."

"I _borrow_ them," Annie corrected.

"Right. Borrow. Okay, well, you have fun. I'll get back before two. I'm not going to stumble in here in a state at seven a.m., I'm beyond that."

"I doubt Danielle will let you in the house. She'll make you sleep downstairs. You know, tradition. I'll try to get her out of here."

"No, tell her we don't do anything traditional. Tell her I won't see you before the wedding. I promise."

Annie grinned at him, and shook her head. "I won't let her keep you from me, don't worry. Traditions are for people who like to travel a straight path."

"I haven't travelled a straight path in almost eight years," Auggie said. "I always veer off-course into the most interesting places... and people." He stepped forward, finding her shoulder, sliding his hand up to her cheek and guiding himself in to kiss her.

She followed him down the stairs and glanced out the window. "Eric's here," she said. "Go, have fun with the boys."

He turned back to her, kissing her again. "I love you, my wife of tomorrow."

Annie's smile brightened her face completely. "I love you, my husband of tomorrow."

She opened the door as Auggie pulled on a jacket. Eric had crossed to the stairs.

"Hey, Eric. Look after him for me; I want him back in one piece."

"I don't think I could keep him from you, Annie. In pieces or otherwise. Ready, Man?" He bumped his hand against Auggie's as Auggie reached the bottom step.

"For tonight? Not in the least. For tomorrow? Been ready for years."

Eric turned to Annie and saw the indescribable happiness on her face.

"Then let's get to it," he said.


End file.
